G Chaser 5: Corruption
by BDM
Summary: On a new mission in Manhattan, Alan Tyler must enlist the aid of some unlikely allies to stop a biological weapon from destroying the world. Contains some story elements borrowed from CII. Final part of the "Shadowrun Trilogy".
1. The Next Assignment

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, storylines or settings of Gargoyles. The Walt Disney Company may own the copyrights, but as far as I'm concerned they're really the property of Greg Weisman.

**The Next Assignment**

One whole day had passed. To Alan Tyler, it only felt like five minutes since the terrible events inside the Matrix. All night long he had turned those events over in his head, recalling that virtual landscape, his form and that monster that had threatened to take so many lives. He hated to think what would have happened had he not stopped that creature. As a result, he had had very little sleep and was exhausted. He had spent three quarters of an hour trying to pull himself together and make himself look as presentable as he could in his scruffy-looking shirt and trousers. His fixer was due to arrive at any minute, and he still wasn't sure he felt up to whatever task he had in mind, especially since his team was all but broken.

_This is so fucking typical_, he thought, as he downed his second cup of coffee that morning and dragged a comb through his long brown hair. _The shadowruns dry up for months, then when they finally do come along, I'm not ready. That's the story of my life._

He had spent the night at the Wild at Heart bar with the psychic Miki Saegusa, now the owner of the bar and the last of Alan's shadowrunning team remaining in the city. Nothing had happened in the strictest sense of the word; Alan just preferred to be in the vicinity of the bar if their fixer happened to call. The guy prized punctuality, and since the sprawl of Seattle was so unpredictable Alan didn't want to risk being late again.

It was with some effort that he dragged himself into the back room, where most of the shady deals took place. It was serviceable enough, though not very well-lit. He sat at the table in the middle of the room, wiping the sleep out of his golden, cat-like eyes. He drummed the table, making loud clicking noises with the sharp talons on the end of his left arm, which was covered in pebble-like grey scales. He had resigned himself to the fact that one day the mutations would complete, he would become just like Godzilla and probably lose himself completely, but often he just wished Organiser G-1 would get it over with. The waiting was often unbearable.

In the end, he got tired of the silence in the backroom, so he searched through the various music files he had on his commlink's memory. Within minutes the sounds of 'Grounds for Divorce' by an old band called Elbow began playing through the commlink's speaker. Music of this sort was often banned or considered old-hat, but Alan loved it. He closed his eyes, beginning to nod his head and started singing along to the music.

"_I've been working on a cocktail called Grounds for Divorce... Polishing a compass that I hold in my sleep... Doubt comes in on sticks but then he kicks like a horse... There's a Chinese cigarette case and the rest you can keep... There's a hole in my neighbourhood down which of late I cannot help but fall..."_

"I prefer 1970s rock, myself," a deep voice suddenly said. "I also advise singing lessons".

Alan's eyes flew open and he nearly fell off his chair. His fixer, known to him as Mr. Johnson, had walked into the back room with his two troll bodyguards. A slight smirk was on his face, his suit and grey hair as immaculate as ever, as Alan tried to compose himself, clutching his chest.

"Christ..." Alan snarled, switching off the music. "You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!"

"At least it seems to have woken you up," Johnson chuckled as he sat down opposite Alan. "Which is a good thing, as you will need to be in top condition for the job I have for you."

"Oh yeah?" Alan remarked. "So what would that be then? A trip to Antarctica?"

"Not this time, Ryuu," Johnson replied, becoming more business-like, "though you _do_ get an opportunity to travel on this occasion. You will be travelling to Manhattan this time; your employer is a man named David Xanatos."

"I've heard of him," Alan muttered. "He's the owner of that self-named megacorp. Doesn't he have a castle on top of his tower?"

Johnson nodded. "That is indeed his public face," he said, "but there are many things Xanatos would rather the public not know. He is looking to hire shadowrunners to handle an assignment that requires much discretion. Naturally I recommended you to him."

"What might these 'assignments' be?" Alan asked.

"If I knew that," Johnson smirked, "I wouldn't have mentioned Xanatos' emphasis on discretion. However," he continued, looking more serious, "another client of mine has become suspicious of his recent activities. To be exact, Xanatos Enterprises has made some peculiar recruitment drives over the past few years. Among those now in the company's payroll is one Dr. Anton Sevarius, possibly the world's premiere mind on genetic manipulation."

"So your client's doing some headhunting?" Alan smirked. "Want me to extract him? Such a heavy-duty scientist must be worth a lot of money."

"Believe me," Johnson snorted, "my client has all the staff he needs. He is concerned because of the nature of Sevarius' work in the past; experiments which have proven very unpopular among the scientific community, but could potentially bring no end of military and medical contracts to Xanatos Enterprises. Naturally my client does not wish this to happen; we cannot have one megacorporation gain a monopoly." He leaned in closer to Alan, pulling a data disk out of his pocket and sliding it across the table to Alan.

"I want you," he continued, "to get your team and do whatever Xanatos wants you to do. While you are there, you are to gather whatever information you can about the nature of Sevarius' work and what plans Xanatos has for him. Report back to me with your findings, and I will pass the information on to my client. Do you understand me?"

"Yes..." Alan said, taking the disk and now looking grave. "Except getting my team might be difficult."

"Why's that?" Johnson asked coldly.

"Well, one of my team is dead, for starters..." Alan muttered bitterly. His best friend, the dwarf rigger known as Sparks, had been murdered by the insane monster that Alan had destroyed only the other day. He had died right in front of Alan scant days ago, and the scars were still very fresh in Alan's mind.

"Ah yes..." Johnson replied coolly. "I heard about the so-called Reaper killings. I am sorry about your team-mate's death."

"Oh fuck off!" Alan snarled, his eyes narrowed. "Don't insult me by pretending you care. He was just another shadowrunner to you. He was completely expendable."

There was a moment of silence as Alan sat, silently fuming. Johnson's expression remained cold and completely professional. The mutant knew that fixers such as Johnson never let emotion get in the way of their work. They were not supposed to get attached to their clients or the shadowrunners.

"What of the others?" Johnson asked after a while.

"Obatala and Berokash?" Alan said. "I just got a message from them a couple of hours ago. They're still down south; the Invae outbreak was worse than they thought, and they're staying to do what they can to drive them back. As for Zapper..." he paused for a moment, shaking his head. "He's in a bad way. He's in no fit condition to be shadowrunning right now."

"I see," Johnson said, scratching his chin. "Oh well, I am sure you and Ms. Psyche-Lock will manage splendidly. If you do need extra help, I am sure there are other shadowrunners in Manhattan who will help you if promised payment. My client always keeps to his word, as I am sure you know by now."

"Whatever," Alan sighed. "I'll get the job done, don't you worry. I'll even throw in a souvenir."

"The disk that I gave you," Johnson said, unfazed, "should have everything you need to know about Sevarius and his experiments. It should keep you occupied during your flight. You are due to leave in a few hours, and with the time difference in account it will be dark by the time you arrive. Don't worry; David Xanatos is a rather nocturnal man, so I am sure he will see you when you arrive."

"Lucky me," Alan muttered.

"With that," Johnson said, standing up, "I will leave you to your music and your preparations. Good day, Ryuu." He had an odd smile on his face as he walked out of the room with his bodyguards. Alan sighed as he stood up and leaned against the wall, shaking his head.

_Tosser_, he thought.

***

A few hours later, Miki Saegusa was stood outside the Wild at Heart, taking in her last breaths of Seattle air before the long flight to New York. She was packed and ready to go, her belongings stowed in the armoured truck parked outside the bar. She leaned against the wall, dressed in her maroon T-shirt and blue jeans, brushing her long black hair back.

She was rather surprised that Alan had agreed to carry out Johnson's assignment so soon after the recent events. In fact, she was wondering why she had agreed to go with Alan. She had been present at Sparks' death too, and she wasn't sure if she felt ready to go back to shadowrunning just yet. It was obvious to her that Alan thought this his method of getting over what happened, but she felt he was charging into things without thinking.

As she stood there lost in thought, a young man with Oriental features and dressed in smart clothing approached her. She was so distracted that she jumped when the man greeted her.

"Hey, Miki," the man said politely.

"Kei!" Miki exclaimed, clutching her heart. "You made me jump there!"

"Sorry," the man known as Kei Sung Ming said, smiling. "I've just got back from my trip; I thought I'd drop by to see how you were doing."

"Er..." Miki stammered. "Well..." Kei was in the employ of Miki's old employer, Saeder-Krupp, and she had spent the past year trying to keep up the pretence of being dead. She couldn't go back to her old job, in case anybody traced Alan through her and tried to exploit the cells he carried in his body. She knew she would have to erase Kei's memory to make sure no-one found out she was alive.

"Er..." Kei mumbled, "are you alright?"

"No..." Miki sighed, looking at him.

"Is it about what I said before I left?" Kei asked. "I mean, you said you were already seeing someone, so-"

"It's not that," Miki said, shaking her head. "It's just... well... You remember when I said I didn't want anyone to know where I was? I'd kind of like to keep it that way."

"I don't understand..." Kei said, looking confused and shaking his head. "Why won't you come back? You could talk to someone about getting your old job back, I'm sure they would understand."

"No," Miki replied. "Trust me, they won't. I can't let you go back to Saeder-Krupp knowing that I'm still around. Just trust me on this. It's kind of complicated."

"What's so complicated?!" Kei replied indignantly. "If you're in some kind of trouble, the company can help!"

"It's not like that!" Miki retorted, getting annoyed with Kei's stubbornness. "I can't let you go back to them knowing what you know. The things I know... If Saeder-Krupp knew about them, it would get good friends into trouble. You have to trust me..." There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Kei sighed.

"Miki," he stated looking sullen, "I don't know what you're babbling about, and frankly I don't want to know. If you really think this is the right way to do things, then I won't stop you. I still think you're being an idiot for throwing away what you had at the company, but if this is what you want, then that's just fine."

"Then you know what I need to do..." Miki said, reaching her hands towards Kei's head. "I'm so sorry..."

"Just one thing..." Kei said quickly. "I just hope you're with a man who'll give you everything you've always wanted. You can't settle for anything less, Miki. Promise me that!"

Miki sighed. "I promise," she said quietly, before placing her fingers on Kei's temples. Within seconds Kei started to tremble, and his eyes rolled into his head. A moment later he had collapsed onto the sidewalk, unconscious. Miki stood, trembling from head to toe.

"You all ready to go, Miki?" Alan called, before emerging from the front door of the Wild at Heart with his own bags. As he saw Miki standing over Kei's prostate body, he dropped his bags in alarm and ran over to her.

"What happened?!" he asked in an urgent tone.

"He..." Miki stammered. "He remembered me from my old job. I had to erase his memory. He'll wake up in about an hour never knowing that he saw me."

Alan just nodded, and began to drag Kei's body to a nearby alleyway. As Miki followed, she saw him stooped over the body, pulling his wallet out of his jacket.

"What are you doing?!" Miki asked, appalled.

"Might as well let him think he was mugged," Alan shrugged, heading back over to the truck, piling his bags inside and climbing into the driver's seat. As he started the engine and Miki followed to sit beside him, he added, "At least that keeps me off Lofwyr's lunch menu a bit longer."

"What did you do to piss him off so much?" Miki asked, as Alan pulled the truck off the sidewalk and onto the road.

"Didn't I tell you?" Alan asked, his brows raised. "He hired me once to extract one of Omak Technologies' top engineers. To cut a long story short, things didn't go to plan, and ended up involving an explosion, a very angry dragon and a hastily-made deal."

"What sort of deal?" Miki asked, her eyes wide.

"Well," Alan recounted, "Soñador Malcho agreed to let the engineer go to Saeder-Krupp if my team got information from Lofwyr about his top-secret projects; an eye for an eye, as he put it. I think they had something to do with new propulsion systems they were developing, but I forget the details. We managed to get the files, but Lofwyr rumbled us. Needless to say, he's never called for my team's assistance since then."

"God..." Miki breathed. "I'm surprised neither of them wanted you eliminated."

"Come to think of it," Alan said, looking puzzled, "that surprises me too. It's been a good seven or eight years since I did that job. I just assumed they were too busy trying to kill each other to pay any attention to little old me."

"They really hate each other that much?" Miki asked.

"Yeah," Alan replied, smirking. "I've never known exactly why. Still, as long as it keeps them off my back I couldn't care less."


	2. A Night on the Town

**A Night on the Town**

Xanatos Enterprises had given Alan and Miki a free flight from Seattle to New York, which was pretty uneventful. Alan passed the time by reading through the file on Dr. Sevarius that Johnson had given him. Johnson had not been joking about the doctor's credentials, for they were very impressive indeed, and included a Nobel Prize for his research on stem cells.

However, a few years ago he had become ostracised and cast out of the scientific community after details emerged of a number of controversial experiments Sevarius had conducted. Chief among these were experiments in genetic mutation and DNA splicing, fusing metahuman DNA with that of animals to produce creatures known as 'Mutates'. That news hit uncomfortably close to home for Alan. It was men like Sevarius, after all, that had got him into the condition that he had today, his own DNA spliced with that of what had once been the most dangerous creature alive.

Now apparently he was working for Xanatos, and Alan and Miki had to find out why. Miki was rather quiet during the trip; she was turning over what Kei had said in her mind. She cared about Alan a great deal, but had not considered just how far she was willing to go with him. Could this mutant really give her everything she ever wanted?

By the time the small private plane arrived at JFK International Airport and had quickly been rushed through airport security, the sun had well and truly set. The pilot radioed ahead to the Xanatos building, but it turned out that David Xanatos himself was away with his family at a private party in Washington DC for megacorporation executives. All of the heads of the various companies would be present, and Xanatos was no exception. He had simply left a note encouraging Alan and Miki to enjoy a night on the town, and to head to the Xanatos building the next morning. The few belongings they had brought for the trip were taken to the Xanatos building by car; according to the arrangements, they would be staying at the building as his guests.

So it was that Alan and Miki spent several hours walking the streets of Manhattan, taking in the sights and the sounds of the city after-hours, covered in lights and sporting various high-class bars, clubs and shops. The city was practically a company town, and was a sharp contrast to the rough conditions in Seattle's sprawl. Xanatos Enterprises seemed to want to keep its employees in the high life.

Alan, however, did not feel privileged at all. The whole city somehow felt cold to him. As he and Miki walked out of one of the nightclubs in the city, with various well-to-do company employees walking past them along the lit streets, he couldn't help but feel that the city was as cold and impersonal as the corporations themselves. It hadn't always been that way, but it was now. The city also struck him as being unusually quiet tonight; not empty, but certainly not near the hustle and bustle that he had expected.

"What's up?" Miki asked, noticing Alan's less-than-enthusiastic expression.

"This place really bothers me," Alan replied. "You notice just how desolate everything looked outside the island? Yet Xanatos' employees have this place all to themselves. Can't help but wonder where that money could have gone instead..."

"Right ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Miki said wryly. "Listen, I thought about going into the Xanatos building now, see what we can find out about this guy before we meet him. If Johnson's right, there are a lot of things he doesn't want the general populace to know. That extra info could be worth a lot of money."

Alan nodded. "You go on ahead, then," Alan said. "At least if one of us is caught the other can bail them out in the morning. I just need a moment to get my head together."

Miki just nodded, though she looked like she wasn't convinced that was a good idea. "See you in the morning," she said, in a rather hollow tone, but before Alan could ask her what was wrong, she had already begun running in the direction of the Xanatos building.

He sighed, walking down the street while a few drunken revellers passed him. He still wasn't feeling entirely fit for the job, but the rent wasn't going to pay itself. It was then, as he was passing an office building that was closed for renovations, that he heard a shuffling noise coming from somewhere above his head. All of a sudden a gun fired, and the bullet embedded itself into the pavement in front of Alan, barely missing him by inches.

Snapping his head up, he saw the outline of the sniper on a nearby rooftop, as he beat a hasty retreat into the empty building. Alan pulled out his own gun and ran inside, intending to cut off his attacker's escape. He ran up seven flights of stairs before he stopped. He was sure this was the floor the shooter had run into, and yet there was no sign of them. Alan hadn't seen another staircase, and he was sure that if the fire escape was outside he would have heard the attacker climbing down, so they couldn't have got out of the building without passing him. Unless they had used magic to teleport, it was hard to picture how they could have escaped. He walked towards one of the windows, looking across at a smaller office building, about two storeys shorter than the one he was currently inside. It seemed the attacker hadn't gone out that way either.

He was about to cross to another window to check if the attacker had actually used the fire escape after all, but as he turned he heard footsteps coming towards him. He turned just in time to see someone running straight at him, but was not able to get a good look before the figure slammed into him and tackled him. The force of the tackle took both out of the window behind Alan with a resounding crash, and both fell to the roof of the building next door as glass fell all around them.

Alan landed first, slamming into the roof on his back, while the assassin landed right on top of him. Though Alan possessed the same regenerative abilities as Godzilla did, a fall like that still took a lot out of him. He felt sore all over and didn't feel like he could move just yet, even though he knew he was vulnerable.

Looking upwards, he now was able to get a good look at his wannabe-killer. The figure was dressed head-to-foot in a black jumpsuit, the left side of the chest emblazoned with an emblem that looked like a yellow sledgehammer. He was wearing a utility belt with a gun holstered at his hip. His face could not be seen, for he wore a black hood, with only openings for the eyes giving any visible clue to his identity. From his back, he pulled a large sledgehammer, and hitting a switch on it lightning suddenly crackled along the enormous weapon. Alan assumed that it was a Technomantic weapon of some kind, like his own monofilament whip and his revolver. Though he could feel that he was starting to heal, he knew he would never be able to roll out of the way in time as the assassin raised the sledgehammer high over his head.

"Nighty-night, monster!" he snarled.

"Speak for yourself!" a cold voice suddenly called. The alarmed hooded man turned to see where the voice had come from, and as Alan watched a large shape suddenly collided with the assassin from the left, throwing him off. As Alan staggered to his feet, he could hear the sounds of crashing coming from the shadows to his left, near a water tower. Eventually the sounds of running feet could be heard, and the rescuer stepped out of the shadows.

"That's right!" he yelled back towards the scene of the fight in a gravelly tone. "Run, ya Quarrymen bastard!"

Alan's eyes went wide as his rescuer turned towards him. What this creature was, he had no idea. Physically he seemed to be humanoid, but the skin was a deep shade of red. The creature's face had a long beak for a mouth, with long ears, horns and a shock of long white hair. Both the hands and feet were replaced with sharp talons, while huge bat-like wings grew out of the back and a long tail swept behind him. As he stood, his back seemed to be hunched, making him appear shorter than he probably was. The only article of clothing he wore was what looked like a brown loincloth wrapped around his extremities like shorts, held in place by a black leather belt. Alan also noticed that there was now a faint smell of leather and concrete.

Alan was lost for words. He had never seen a creature like this before, not even in all this time after the Awakening and the bizarre Mana mutations that had surfaced. The creature, meanwhile, was regarding him with piercing eyes, his arms folded.

"It's commonly called 'helping'," the gravel-voiced being said sardonically. "Feel free to say 'thanks'."

"What?" Alan said dumbly. "Er, well, don't think I'm not grateful, but..." he paused for a moment, trying to think what question to ask first. "Who are you?" he finally said, thinking it would be tacky to ask _what_ he was at present.

"The name's Brooklyn," the creature replied, looking all around him. "Now can we save the rest for later? Quarrymen never travel alone; that guy's backup will be here shortly. You got anywhere you need to be?"

"Well, actually," Alan said, "I need to get to the Xanatos building..."

"The Xanatos building?" Brooklyn asked, his eyes narrowing. "You wouldn't be Ryuu no Me, by any chance?"

"How..." Alan replied, his own eyes narrowed. "How did you know that? Are you one of Xanatos' lot?"

"Not exactly..." Brooklyn muttered. "Look, it's all pretty complicated. We'd better get-"

His words were cut off by the sound of a helijet's engine, fast approaching them. As it approached, it slowed and then hovered over them, fixing a searchlight onto the roof which nearly blinded Alan. The sounds of the jet's engines were deafening. Shielding his eyes, Alan glanced up to see more black-hooded figures inside the jet, peering out from the cockpit. Below the cockpit was a mounted minigun, now beginning to spin.

"Move!" Brooklyn yelled, grabbing Alan's arm and dragging him across the rooftop. As the gun fired, scattering bullets in a trail behind them, they dived behind the small outbuilding that had the door to the stairwell. The sounds of the bullets ricocheting off the building made Alan instinctively duck. Even when the gun went silent he didn't dare look around in case one of them got a lucky shot. Whoever these people were, they were not the usual thug in the street.

"What the hell's their problem?" he half-shouted. "What do they want?"

"They want you, pal," Brooklyn snarled. "The same way Xanatos wants you, only dead."

"Why the hell would they want me dead?" Alan shouted. "I've only just got into town!"

"They hate non-humans," Brooklyn replied, glancing at Alan's scale-covered arm. "Do you get airsick?"

"No," Alan replied. "Why?"

"Then hang on!" Brooklyn yelled. Grabbing Alan's arm, he dragged him to the edge of the roof and jumped off, dragging Alan off with him. The mutant yelled as they fell for a short moment before Brooklyn unfurled his wings, and Alan felt a violent lurch as they suddenly started gliding above the road, the buildings whipping past them, the helijet moving in hot pursuit.

Reaching his free arm up for Brooklyn to grab it, Alan's mouth fell open. He had flown before in planes and helicopters, but this new idea of flying out in the open made him feel very exposed, yet at the same time excited. It was like riding a motorbike on the road; he was much more exposed and vulnerable, but that was outweighed by the fact that he found it much more exciting. No matter how much the cold wind stung him, he knew this was something he could grow to like, and for a moment regretted that Godzilla didn't have wings. Above him, Brooklyn winced, his teeth gritted.

"I've never tried gliding while carrying someone," he grunted.

"Right..." Alan said, feeling less confident. "Just steer clear of turbulence, okay?"

The gun on the helijet sounded again, scattering bullets everywhere. Brooklyn swooped and veered to avoid the deadly hail, though Alan was sure that if something wasn't done they were bound to get hit sooner or later. He watched as the bullets tore into the surrounding buildings, smashing glass and mortar. On the ground, screams could be heard as civilians dived for cover.

Things were clearly getting out of hand, and Alan was sure that Brooklyn was starting to tire; they dropped sharply as bullets whizzed over their heads. Sooner or later the two of them would be sitting ducks. Alan looked down and saw that they were quite close to what looked like a hotel, with the flags of various nationalities hanging from a support on the roof. Looking at the helijet, he noticed that the engine turbines were exposed. A plan formed in his head.

"Drop me on that roof!" he shouted up to Brooklyn.

"What?!" Brooklyn shouted down in surprise.

"Just do it!" Alan yelled. Brooklyn swooped towards the rooftop and then let go of Alan. The mutant dropped onto the roof and landed hard, rolling as he did so. He saw Brooklyn glide away from the roof; the helijet looked as if it would continue to give chase. Knowing that he had to time this right, Alan pulled out the large Technomantic revolver from its holster and fired at the cables holding the flags up. He managed to detach three of them as the helijet flew past. The flags were caught in the suction of the leftmost turbine, the one nearest the hotel roof.

Alan couldn't believe his luck as the flags were sucked in, and a sudden explosion came from the engine as the flags clogged the turbine. The helijet banked sharply, and began descending to the street below as the engine died. Brooklyn, who had doubled back to try and shake off the helijet, landed on the roof beside Alan and watched the helijet crash into the road, civilians diving to get out of the way. Fortunately no-one on the street was hurt, but Brooklyn gave a reproachful look to Alan.

"What?" Alan shrugged. "That damaged engine would have got them down safely, though I wouldn't bet on a soft landing."

"Hey," Brooklyn shrugged. "I couldn't care less what happens to them, it's the people on the ground I was worried about." As he spoke, sirens filled the area, and several police cars pulled into the street below. The officers jumped out of their cars and went to grab the hooded Quarrymen, who by now were struggling to free themselves from the wreckage. Alan was curious as to what Brooklyn was and what his connection was to Xanatos, but right now he had to get a question off his mind.

"What's with those Quarrymen guys anyway?" he asked. "They remind me of the Humanis Policlub."

"Funny you should say that," Brooklyn replied. "From all accounts I've heard, the Humanis are their sponsors. They deny it, of course, but I reckon that's how the Quarrymen were able to get those fancy hammers."

"Well, that explains a lot," Alan said. "Now, about Xanatos..."

Both were silent for a moment, as Brooklyn regarded Alan carefully. By all measures, he ought to prevent this shadowrunner from meeting Xanatos, yet a gut feeling warned him that he would be worse off if he did. Xanatos would instantly suspect his clan if there was any interference, and at present there was too much at stake to risk open conflict. He sighed as he settled on the idea that, ultimately, letting this shadowrunner do his business would mean less trouble for him and his clan in the long run. He also realised that letting this all play out for a while would be a good chance to find out what Xanatos was up to this time.

"Listen," he finally said, "I'll give you a lift to the building. We can go up to the castle, and you can meet the clan while you wait for him."

"Clan?" Alan asked, his eyes widened. "You mean there are more of you?"

"Of course," Brooklyn replied, smirking. "Don't you have gargoyles in Seattle?"

"Not to my knowledge," Alan replied, as he held Brooklyn's arm and the pair jumped off the roof, gliding away from the building. As much as Alan enjoyed the sensation of flight, he wasn't overly keen on the albatross take-offs.


	3. The Dark Knights

**The Dark Knights**

The Xanatos building was by far the tallest building on the island, located in the heart of Manhattan at what had once been Ground Zero. The building had been in the Xanatos family since the early 21st century, and had been extensively renovated in all the long years it had stood. It had become something of a national monument, at least to those who lived in Manhattan and worked for the company. Maybe it was because he was born and raised in England, but Alan didn't consider a huge, thoroughly-modern skyscraper to be a national monument.

As he and Brooklyn approached the building, there was a sudden updraft from below, sending the pair shooting up towards the top of the building. Alan was to learn later that gargoyles could not actually use their wings to fly, only glide on air currents. He felt as if the cold breeze was peeling his face off as they soared upwards above the clouds. At the very top of the building, Alan looked aghast at what he was seeing. Resting on top of the building was a large medieval castle, complete with towers, battlements and even a courtyard. Brooklyn swooped towards the tallest tower, and the two of them landed neatly in front of a wooden trapdoor.

"Welcome to Castle Wyvern," Brooklyn announced, opening the trapdoor and stepping down. "Every brick of it imported from Scotland. You coming?"

Alan nodded, and followed Brooklyn down a flight of stone steps and into a corridor. Though the interior of the castle was full of antiques, various modern conveniences such as electric lights had been installed. He had read about the castle from Xanatos' promotional campaigns, but it was quite another thing to see the castle in-person.

"This is amazing..." Alan muttered, before turning back to Brooklyn. "Why would Xanatos heave this all the way from Scotland though? Is he just eccentric?"

"Hardly," Brooklyn muttered. "We came with the castle. He just wanted his own set of gargoyle bodyguards. That fell through when we found out what sort of person he was."

"How long had you been at the castle?" Alan asked, as Brooklyn led him outside and across the moonlit courtyard. "Since the Awakening?"

"A bit longer than that, bucko," Brooklyn smirked. "Try nearly one thousand, one hundred years, and I can't tell you how deep the roots of the clan are in this place."

Alan's eyes went wide. "But..." he stammered, "But there's no record of gargoyles anywhere, apart from those statues you see on churches!"

"Yeah, those statues are little more than garden gnomes," Brooklyn replied. "I'd be surprised if any records of real gargoyles existed; though clans of us exist all over the world, we never used to get out much."

"But I thought magical beings didn't start appearing until the Awakening!" Alan said. "Just how long have you guys been around?"

"I don't know anyone who knows an exact date," Brooklyn shrugged. "We only recently started to show ourselves in public. After the Awakening most of us saw little sense in hiding ourselves. Of course, scientists have tried to study us. Some of them think we're somehow related to the dragons themselves, but I don't buy it."

"It's as I've said repeatedly," a higher-pitched voice called out from one of the towers. "That theory's a load of unfounded claptrap." The voice's owner glided down to the courtyard. Alan could only guess that this was another gargoyle, but he looked radically different from Brooklyn. He was much shorter, his face looked more human, his skin was a brownish-green, and he was bald. He had no wings as such; instead he had a membrane that stretched from his arms to his legs. He looked between Brooklyn and Alan with eyes that looked too big for his head, smirking.

"Honestly," the small gargoyle continued, "I don't get what those scientists are on half the time. 'Children of the dragons' indeed; I'd like to have a few words with whoever cooked _that_ up!"

"What were you doing out here anyway?" Brooklyn asked.

"What, are you kidding?!" the smaller gargoyle replied incredulously. "Just look how clear it is tonight! It's perfect for stargazing; I've been testing out the new telescope for the past hour!"

"Who's this?" Alan chimed on.

"Oh, sorry," Brooklyn said, grinning. "Ryuu, this is Lexington. He's the biggest techno-geek I know in Manhattan. If you've got problems with your tech, he's your guy. Lex, this is Ryuu, the guy we overheard Xanatos talking about."

Lexington didn't seem to be listening to Brooklyn. He was gazing up at Alan with wide eyes, clearly in absolute awe. As Brooklyn finished introducing him, Lexington held out his arm for a handshake, which Alan took. He could not help but notice that Lexington's grip on his arm was surprisingly firm, considering his diminutive frame, and he shook his arm so vigorously Alan thought it was going to shatter. His hand had a leathery texture to it, which would account for the smell Alan picked up earlier.

"It's..." Lexington said, apparently struggling to get his words out. "It's an honour to speak to a real shadowrunner like yourself!"

"Uh... thanks," Alan stammered, looking embarrassed. As a shadowrunner he wasn't used to receiving public acclaim for his work. Usually it was only the fixers that gave you a pat on the back and a large payment.

"Hey!" Lexington chimed in. "Did you ever meet Benny?"

"Benny?" Alan asked dumbly, before he remembered who Lexington was talking about. "Oh yeah, I remember now; that runner who duct-taped Lofwyr to the side of the Omak building?"

"That's the one!" Lexington replied, laughing loudly. "That was priceless!"

"Yeah, I met him once," Alan said, answering Lexington's question. "He was about to retire, and I asked for a meet-up. We had a few drinks, shared a few stories, and he taught me a few tricks. Nice guy. We lost one of the greats when he quit."

"Wow..." Lexington breathed, his eyes wide with adoration. "Man, I wish I could do half the things you guys do! Anyway, I've gotta go. I think I may be on the verge of discovering a new galaxy! Nice meeting you, Ryuu!" With that, the small gargoyle was climbing up the tower he had descended from, his sharp talons digging into the stone as he climbed. Brooklyn just sighed and led Alan across the courtyard to the great hall, and down another corridor.

"What's the deal with that kid?" Alan asked. "He's awfully keen on-"

"Kid?" Brooklyn chuckled. "Don't let him catch you calling him that. He only hatched two seconds after me. Don't ask me why all gargoyles grow differently, because I honestly don't know."

Alan was about to suggest that Lexington had some form of gargoyle dwarfism, but decided against it at the last minute. Even by his standards, that joke seemed in bad taste.

"Anyway," he continued, "what's with him? Never known anyone to get star-struck around shadowrunners."

"He's fixated with becoming one someday," Brooklyn replied, rolling his eyes. "He's been obsessed with them since he first surfed the Matrix. Goliath, of course, isn't having any of it; he'd say we do enough 'shadowrunning' as it is."

"Who is this 'Goliath' anyway?" Alan asked. "You've mentioned him twice now."

"He's our clan leader," Brooklyn explained. "He's out seeing a friend right now, and while he's away I run the show. I'd watch out around him; he's having trouble adjusting to the way the world works now."

Alan wasn't sure what Brooklyn meant, but they stopped outside a small room. Voices could be heard coming from inside.

"Aye, lass," a voice with a thick Scottish accent was saying. "Poor Magus didn't realise his mistake until it were too late. Ah've no hard feelings; he didn't know Princess Katharine were still alive. I think that's why they raised the rookery children on Avalon and protected them so well; they wanted to make amends for their mistakes."

Before Alan could even ask if the voice was talking about the same Avalon that he was thinking of, another more familiar voice began to speak.

"I thought magic was sealed away a long time ago though!" Miki's voice exclaimed. "How could you have been frozen?"

"It could still be channelled through certain objects, lass," the older voice said. "Objects that could channel magic through them were extremely rare though. Magus' book, the Grimorum Arcanorum, happened to be one o' those items. I never got the chance to ask where he found it; I heard rumours that it was Atlantean though."

"Like an early form of Technomancy?" The female asked. "That's incredible! So you didn't wake up until Xanatos brought the castle here?"

"Aye," the gruff voice replied. "Just over a thousand years later. The rules of the curse said that we weren't to wake until the castle was raised above the clouds. All those old curses had some kind of get-out clause, usually one that's damn-near impossible to fulfil. Of course, the whole moving the castle business never became possible 'til recently. Xanatos got to hear the legends and wanted his own personal gargoyle army. We never saw eye-to-eye, I'll tell you that."

At this, Alan walked into the room. It was a small, comfortable-looking TV room, with two cups set on a fine wood coffee table and a lit fireplace. Miki was kneeling on the floor, stroking what looked like a large, blue, fur-less bear that had its head resting on her lap, apparently asleep. The creature had a strangely humanoid-looking face, with ears that looked like miniature fins. Sat in a comfortable armchair was another gargoyle, this one noticeably older than the others with white hair and beard and brown skin. He had the look of a seasoned warrior now gone to seed, wearing a vest of what looked like bear-hide, metal shoulder-pads and with a sword strapped to his belt. As he turned to look at Alan and Brooklyn, Alan saw that he was partly-blinded; the left eye was a milky colour, with a scar running down the face and over the eye. Miki beamed as she saw Alan enter.

"Ryuu!" Miki exclaimed, remembering to refer to Alan by his codename while on a job. She picked herself up off the floor and walked over to him.

"Got here alright, did you?" Alan asked with a slight smile.

"No problems here," Miki replied. "Xanatos was obviously expecting us."

"So were these guys," Alan said, nudging his head in Brooklyn's direction.

"Aye," the older gargoyle rumbled, lifting himself out of his chair. "Lex cannae keep his nose out of other people's matters. Mind you, I don't blame 'im; this _is_ Xanatos we're talkin' about here."

"Doesn't bother me," Alan replied. "I've dealt with shadier characters than this guy can possibly be."

"Aye, I bet you have in your line o' work," the gargoyle growled in a clearly disapproving tone. "Still, I'm nay your grandfather." He nodded over to Brooklyn, who returned a similar nod. It seemed that both of them had come to the same conclusion – that keeping these shadowrunners around for the time-being would ultimately mean less trouble for them – and had come to a silent agreement to keep a close watch on them.

"They call me Hudson, lad," the gargoyle continued, offering his talon for Alan to shake. "I assume you're the wee lass' partner?"

"Wait a minute," Alan said. "I've just realised something. Brooklyn, Hudson, Lexington..."

"Aye, lad," Hudson nodded. "All named after our new home. Gargoyles don't usually have names, unless the humans in our care give 'em to us. You may think o' it as a badge o' honour."

Alan was about to ask how they identified each other before taking names, when a loud snarling sound came from the floor to his left. As he looked, he saw the bear-like gargoyle snarling like a dog, the pupil-less eyes lit up with a strange blue light. It was glaring intently at Alan's mutated left arm; the one that so closely resembled Godzilla's.

"Tha's strange..." Hudson muttered. "Bronx isn't usually like this around new people. Somethin' about that arm of yours has 'im spooked."

"Well," Alan said, "I think we'd better get out of his way then." With that, he headed straight out of the room, with Miki and Brooklyn following him.

"Nice to meet you, Hudson!" Miki called behind her back to Hudson. Bronx had stopped snarling, but was watching them go with narrowed eyes.

"Listen," Brooklyn said, "I've gotta go do some work on my bike before sun-up. The library's right down there," he continued, pointing down the hall. "It's got a couple of couches you can crash on."

"Wait a minute..." Alan said. "You ride motorcycles?"

"Oh, here it comes..." Miki muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Brooklyn nodded with a smile. "I love the new Harley Davidsons they're bringing out, but they're just a bit too bulky now. I've got a Scorpion I'm converting in the garage; I'm trying to shift some weight and add a bit of extra horsepower. Should go flying through the streets when I'm done with it."

"Really?" Alan replied enthusiastically. "I'll have to see that while I'm here. I've got a modified Suzuki Mirage myself. It's fast, quick round the corners and squeezes down just about any alley; perfect for smuggling runs. I've got to say I have a fondness for the old Harleys though; the '81 Sturgis was a beauty of a machine. I remember first riding one of-"

At this, Miki shoved him hard in the ribs with her elbow. Brooklyn's eyes widened, but Alan knew why Miki had shoved him. He almost had to explain how someone had been able to maintain a motorcycle from 1981 when parts for it were discontinued a long time ago.

"Never mind," Alan quickly said, rubbing the spot where Miki had nudged him. "It's not important. You've got things you need doing."

"Right..." Brooklyn muttered, still looking at Alan with disbelief. "Well, I'll get going then. Stay out of trouble." With this, he walked down to the other end of the corridor.

"Hey," Alan called after him. "Thanks for the help earlier."

Brooklyn just nodded in a 'don't mention it' manner before heading through another door. Alan and Miki started off towards the direction of the library.

"Honestly, Minya!" Miki muttered. "How can I keep your secret if even you can't keep it?!"

"It just slipped out!" Alan muttered furiously. "I'm sorry! And don't call me Minya!"

"Look," Miki frowned, "why do you hate being referred to as a relation to him? You hate it when I call you Minya, you hate it when Kiryuu calls you his grandson... Can't you just let it slide?!"

"I'll let it slide when Kiryuu stops being such a dick about it!" Alan snarled as the two of them marched through a door. "Just because we have the same genes doesn't mean that I owe him anything!"

"Keep your voice down!" Miki muttered. "We are in a library, after all."

Alan had been so caught up in their argument that he hadn't noticed that the two of them had reached the castle's library. It was a cavernous space, stretching several hundred yards in both directions, with wooden shelf upon shelf of leather-bound books. Looking at some of them, Alan found that they were surprisingly well-preserved. He reasoned that some form of magic must be at work, for print books were very hard to come by in the digital age and those books that did survive were in bad shape. There were some computer terminals as well for digital downloads, but they seemed to be gathering dust. Apparently Xanatos was not the type to accept substitutes. Miki was spellbound, picking up a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ and sitting herself down on one of the comfortable sofas.

"I've only ever been able to read Austen through the Matrix," Miki said excitedly. "I never thought I'd see a real book!"

"Glad you're happy," Alan said. "I'm gonna take a look around. I thought I heard voices from one of the aisles."

As Alan walked down the long aisle of books and rounded a corner, he saw two more gargoyles sat on the upper level near the large open window. One was a large gargoyle, with turquoise skin and a visible pot belly, his bald head lined by small horns and a large chin. The other gargoyle seemed to be a female, with purple skin and a shock of spiky dark brown hair. She was wearing a white shirt as well as a loincloth and was of a slender build. She was looking over the shoulder of the large male, who was reading a book aloud with a brawny drawl.

"Think'st thou the fiery fever will go out, with titles blown from... er, from..."

"Adulation," the female gargoyle chimed in, her voice a direct contrast to the male's. She spoke like she had stepped out of the British Royal Family.

"Thanks, Angela," the male replied, before reading again. "Will it give place to... er, flexure, whatever _that's_ supposed to mean... and low bending? Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee, command the health of it: No, thou proud dream, that play'st so subtly with a King's repose."

Alan recognised the speech as coming from act four, scene one of Henry V. It was a speech he remembered vividly after having to read it over and over again at school. So he decided to chime in with the next part of the speech.

"I am a King that find thee: and I know 'tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball, the sword, the mace, the crown imperial, the intertissued robe of gold and pearl, the farced title running 'fore the King, the throne he sits on: nor the tide of pomp that beats upon the high shore of the world. No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony; not all these, laid in bed majestical, can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave: who with a body filled and vacant mind gets him to rest, crammed with distressful bread..."

The two gargoyles were surprised to see Alan, but the female's shock quickly turned to an impressed look as she hopped down from the walkway, landing in front of Alan. The male soon joined her, landing rather clumsily.

"You know your Shakespeare?" the female called Angela asked.

"Only that little bit," Alan shrugged. "It's the only thing about his work I remember from school."

"Funny..." Angela muttered, scratching her chin. "I didn't think they still taught literature in these times. Anyway, it's a pity; I could use some help with the reading lessons."

"Just tell the whole world, why don'cha?" the large gargoyle replied wryly.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Angela exclaimed, shaking her head. "My name is Angela of Avalon, and this is Broadway of the Manhattan Clan."

"Call me Ryuu," Alan said. "When you mention Avalon, do you mean the-"

"Yes," Angela answered, anticipating Alan's query. "You didn't think the Arthurian legends were just stories, did you?"

"Well, yes I did actually..." Alan muttered. It seemed that magic had been around a lot longer than he'd thought. He thought to himself that he and Manda would have to have a nice long chat. Then something else occurred to him; something he'd heard Hudson mention.

"You were sent to Avalon ages ago though," he said. "How come you're still here?"

"Been chatting to Hudson, have you?" Angela smiled. "The dear old fellow can't resist a chance to talk about our history. Time works differently in Avalon; it's something like for every hour on Avalon that passes, a month goes by in the real world. Or rather the actual reality we're standing in... It's all rather complicated."

"All that matters," Broadway chimed in, with a broad smile, "is that, even after a thousand years by our reckonin', Angela's still as sweet as a cherry pie."

"Broadway, shush!" Angela muttered. "I don't think Mr. Ryuu needs to know that!"

Alan was thinking that statement could not be more true. He didn't want to know how close Angela and Broadway were.

"Yeah," Broadway sneered at Alan, "you jus' wanna know how much Xanatos is payin' ya for whatever he's got in mind, right? Well, just you wait 'til Goliath gets here, then yer'll be in for an earful. Hell, even old man Hudson's got a better grasp of this year than Mr. Stuck-in-the-past Clan-leader. When we first got here, he acted like the skyscrapers were flippin' him off."

What Broadway hadn't noticed was that, while he had been talking, another person had entered the room through the window behind him. The figure walked slowly towards Broadway's back, and as he stepped out of the shadows Alan's mouth fell open at the sight of him. For this gargoyle was a huge, muscular figure, with purple skin, long and very dark brown hair (so dark that Alan thought it was black at first) that went past his waist and a square jaw that looked like it had been chiselled. He stood behind Broadway, his muscular arms folded and his eyes narrowed. Alan also noticed that the small claw-like appendages on his wings were clasping them together, giving him the appearance of wearing a long cloak.

As Alan and Angela gazed at the imposing figure, Broadway visibly cringed, turning around to face the newcomer.

"You were saying, Broadway?" the stranger said in one of the deepest, most handsome voices Alan had ever heard. Somehow this voice carried enough power and authority to rival even Kiryuu's.

"Nothin', Goliath," Broadway stammered. "I just-"

"Good," Goliath cut in. "Because if I wish for sarcasm, I will speak with Xanatos." He looked between both Broadway and Angela, apparently not noticing Alan. "It is almost dawn. We should make our way to the tower now." With that, he started to walk down the library aisle.

"Goliath," Angela said, "may I introduce Mr. Ryuu no Me? He's the one Lex mentioned was coming."

"How are you..." Alan said, holding out his hand, but he tailed off. Goliath walked right past him as if he wasn't there.

"Excuse me?" Alan called after him, but still Goliath completely ignored him. Now Alan was losing patience, and decided to give the apparently rude leader a piece of his mind.

"Oi, blockhead!" he shouted. "What the fuck is your problem?!"

At this, Goliath froze in place. Angela gasped, while Broadway's mouth fell open. Neither of them could believe Alan would dare say something like that, least of all to their leader.

Suddenly Goliath spun round and charged straight at Alan, releasing a loud roar. His eyes were now pupil-less and shining with a white light, and Alan didn't get out of his way in time. The gargoyle grabbed him, clamping his talon around his neck and lifting him clean off the ground. Alan in turn dug his own claw-like left hand into the arm holding him, but he could feel Goliath's grip begin to tighten.

"Father!" Angela shouted. "Don't!"

"I will tell you exactly what my 'problem' is, you insolent little whelp!" Goliath snarled at Alan, baring a set of sharp teeth. "Your sole interest is in the money that foul creature Xanatos is offering you; the nature of his work does not bother you if you are getting paid well for it. Mercenaries like you sicken me; you are the most pernicious, dishonourable race of odious little vermin who ever suffered to crawl upon the face of the Earth! I swear that if you endanger my clan in any way, I will hunt you down and make you suffer for as long as you live!"

He promptly dropped Alan to the floor. The mutant coughed and spluttered as Goliath turned around and strode right out of the library. Broadway stood for a moment, looking back at Alan with a shocked expression, before following Goliath out. Angela stayed to help Alan to his feet.

"I'm so sorry about that, Mr. Ryuu," Angela said. "But what on Earth prompted you to say that? He could have killed you just then!"

"If he acts like a dick," Alan gasped, "I'll treat him as such."

"Alan!" Miki's voice suddenly called out, and Alan soon saw her running down the aisle towards him. Her eyes went wide when she saw him barely standing.

"I heard a commotion," she said. "Are you alright?"

Alan just nodded, shaking himself.

"Still," Angela said, as the three of them walked out of the library and headed back towards the tallest tower, "you would do well not to goad my father at present. Try to understand; he has been through so much recently. We lost our home in the clock tower above the police station not so long ago, and he's going through a rough patch with Elisa. He is very torn up, and we all know Xanatos can't be trusted, even if he allowed us to move back into the castle. I'm afraid your actions were just the 'straw that broke the camel's back'."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Miki said. "Ryuu's mouth tends to work faster than his brain does. You should see him around his family!"

Angela and Miki chuckled, but Alan looked flustered.

"Oh swell," he muttered. "I get teased by the attractive lasses. It's like being back at school again."

For a few moments there was silence. As they ascended the steps to the tower, Alan spoke up again.

"I think your mother must have been the nice one," he muttered, looking at Angela. The gargoyle snorted, releasing a low snarl, her eyes flashing just like Goliath's had for a moment, only her eyes flashed a vivid shade of red.

"I guess not," Alan quickly said.

"I don't like talking about my mother," Angela quickly said. "I hope we can find something other than families to talk about tonight."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask," Alan said, as they walked out onto the top of the tower. The other gargoyles were already there, hunched in various positions on the battlements. Goliath was on the very tallest part of the tower, above the others, looking down at Alan with narrowed, distrustful eyes. On the horizon, the first rays of the morning sun were beginning to show.

"Why does everything have to wait until tonight?" he quickly asked.

As the sun rose, the skin on the gargoyles began to change, becoming more cracked and changing into a dull grey colour. It was not just their skin either; their hair, clothes, even Hudson's sword all took on the same look. Before Alan and Miki had time to think, all of the gargoyles had become solid, immovable stone statues, frozen in various intimidating poses. As Alan looked up, he saw that Goliath too had frozen, though the eyes still gave him the impression that he was being watched.

"I guess that's my answer," he said, his eyes wide. He walked up to the statue that was once Angela and ran his finger over her face. The texture reminded him of concrete. He soon came to understand why gargoyles didn't attract much attention; they were perfectly camouflaged in the day.

"Alan," Miki said, her head beginning to nod, "I think we should get some sleep too. It's been a long night."

Alan nodded, though he found himself unable to take his eyes off the statues until he was walking back down the tower with Miki. Of all the creatures that he had seen in the Awakened world, those gargoyles were definitely the most curious ones.


	4. Deals with the Devil

**Deals with the Devil**

Both Alan and Miki slept for several hours on separate sofas in the library. While it was not the most comfortable place to sleep, the two of them were so tired from the events of the previous night that they were not that picky about where they slept.

When Alan awoke, the first thing he saw was a small serving cart that had been moved just in front of his sleeping place. The cart was very neatly arranged, with two plates covered by silver lids, various knives and forks, two wine glasses and a bottle of white wine in a cooler. As he sat himself up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he lifted one of the lids off its plate, revealing sausages, fried eggs and a side salad.

"Yes, it is for you and your partner, sir," a clipped voice suddenly said from somewhere to Alan's right. Alarmed, he spun his head in the direction the voice had come from. The owner of the voice turned out to be a blond-haired, bespectacled man with a severe-looking face and a very smart blue suit with red tie. The only unusual thing about his appearance was that one of his hands seemed to be made of stone, permanently clenched in a fist.

"Alright," Alan muttered, regarding this gentleman carefully. "What's your story then?"

"My name is Owen, sir," the man replied. "I am Mr. Xanatos' PA. Mr. Xanatos thought you might care for some refreshments before you discussed your business with him."

"What time is it?" Alan asked idly.

"It is a quarter to one in the afternoon, sir," Owen promptly replied in that same clipped tone. "You were sleeping so soundly that Mr. Xanatos thought it best not to disturb you." At this there was a sudden beeping sound, and Owen peered down at his own commlink.

"If you will excuse me, sir," he said after a moment. "I must attend to other matters in the castle. Please finish your meal and speak to Mr. Xanatos as soon as possible. His office is down the corridor, the second door on the left. Good day." With that, he walked straight out of the library at a very brisk pace, leaving Alan no opportunity to question him.

_The longer I live,_ he thought as he helped himself to a sausage, _the stranger the company I keep._

"_Oh, that doesn't include me, does it?"_ Miki suddenly projected into his head. Turning around, Alan saw her coming around a corner tidying her long, dark hair. As Alan looked at her, he saw her divert her gaze from him and look straight towards the service cart. She pulled the lid off the second plate and began to eat with great gusto. When she saw Alan looking at her with arched eyebrows, she threw him a reproachful look.

"Can't I just eat a little?" she said.

Alan looked away, shaking his head. He was glad that Miki was still young and had a fast metabolism.

"Are you going to touch your salad?" Miki asked, after a few quiet minutes spent tucking into the meal.

"No," Alan replied. "Can't stand the stuff. Actually, for a while now I've had this craving for very rare meat; the bloodier the better. I wonder if Godzilla used to eat it raw before he gained an appetite for nuclear and plasma reactors." At this, Miki almost choked on the piece of fried egg she had been on the point of swallowing.

"Oh, that's just sick!" she exclaimed. "Thanks for giving me that image!"

After a while, the pair finished their meal, with the wine going untouched. Neither of them had felt in the mood for alcohol. Miki in particular seemed to be looking more awkward as they walked down the corridor to Xanatos' office. Alan couldn't help but be concerned; usually Miki was the perky one of the pair, but now she seemed rather downtrodden. As he was about to ask what was wrong, the two of them arrived outside the office.

"I'll wait out here," Miki said rather suddenly. "I'm not fully awake yet."

Alan was about to ask why, but he knew Miki would just become irritable. Once she made her mind up about something, it was impossible to dissuade her. So he stepped through the wooden door into an immaculate office, with a large fish-tank, old cavalry rifles and a large window overlooking the city skyline. Sat at a large ornate desk was David Xanatos himself. He was a well-built man in his mid-30s, with a neatly-trimmed moustache and beard and long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a black shirt under a grey jacket and dark trousers. He was regarding Alan with brown eyes and a sly-looking smile. Alan could instantly tell that this was going to be one very slippery individual.

"At last we meet, Mr. Ryuu," Xanatos said, extending a hand for Alan to shake. "Please have a seat."

Alan sat down in the seat opposite Xanatos. The corporate mastermind rested his hands in a pyramid shape on his desk, the tips of his fingertips drumming against each other. He was looking at Alan with a gaze that gave him the impression he was being mind-read.

"So you got to hear about my little errand, did you?" Xanatos asked.

"Yes," Alan replied, being careful not to take his eyes off Xanatos' own. "No specifics were mentioned, however."

"Ah, that should not surprise you by now," Xanatos replied smoothly. "You can never be too careful when dealing with fixers and shadowrunners."

"Just get to the point, Xanatos," Alan said flatly. "I don't buy into any megacorp smooth-talking. Just tell me what this job is."

"My, you are eager, aren't you?" Xanatos replied with a smirk. "Always focused on the task at hand. You're a man after my own heart."

"Spare me," Alan retorted. "So what do you want? Any reason you're not hiring locally?"

"Let's just say," Xanatos replied, "that I don't want anybody to see you coming. Manhattan is a rather close-knit community; if I hire a local 'runner, everybody will know who to expect.

"As to why you are here..." he continued. "I'm having a spot of bother with one of my employees. One Dr. Anton Sevarius, to be exact. As you may or may not know, I hired him recently as part of a project my company has been working on. This project was of a very... shall we say sensitive nature, but I have lost contact with him over the past few days. Owing to the nature of his research I am sure you understand I am concerned for his whereabouts; I cannot have him leaking my most prized industrial secrets, can I?"

"Is that what you think has happened?" Alan asked. "That he has defected?"

"It's one possibility," Xanatos said in a rather off-handed manner. "Of course, that's what I want you to find out, as you have no doubt realised. Once you have ascertained what has become of him, I will be able to decide on the next course of action. I trust I can count on your discretion for the duration of your stay?" He spoke casually enough, but Alan noticed a finality to his tone suggesting that he was very sure of himself. That meant Xanatos was capable of giving him a lot of trouble if he crossed him. His mannerisms reminded Alan of Kiryuu in a lot of ways.

"Assuming I'm given suitable compensation," Alan said clearly, "my lips are sealed."

"I'm glad we understand each other," Xanatos said, smirking. "Very well, Mr. Ryuu. Now Dr. Sevarius was very careful about his dealings, but my own people were able to trace his commlink transmissions to an old science facility that he used prior to being in my employ. Such an out-of-the-way location doesn't bode well for him or for myself. It's as good a place as any to start." With that, he picked up a piece of notepaper and wrote down an address which he handed to Alan.

"Alright," Alan said, taking the notepaper and putting it in his pocket. "I'll look into this, but I expect suitable compensation for my time."

"Do your job," Xanatos replied, "and that won't be an issue." With that same smug smile on his face, he followed Alan out of the office and into the hall. It soon turned out that Miki had company, for standing with her was a tall, slim woman, wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. She had long red hair and a black tattoo across her right eye. In her arms she was holding a happy-looking baby boy. Miki looked enraptured at the sight of the infant.

"Oh, he is too cute!" she sighed.

"Thanks," the woman responded. "He takes after his father." Looking at her, Alan could not help but feel that, for all her smiles and warmth, her face made her look rather crafty.

"Oh, Ryuu," Miki said, looking up and noticing him standing there. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah," Alan replied. "I've got all that we need to know."

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" the red-haired woman asked.

"Oh, sorry," Miki quickly said apologetically. "Ryuu, this is Fox, Xanatos' wife, and their son Alex. Fox, this is my partner, Ryuu."

As Alan shook Fox's free hand, little Alex piped up "Doggie! Doggie!"

"His first words," Fox chuckled. "Bronx has taken to him like a duck to water, and Lex acts like his big brother. At least we know for sure that gargoyles don't harm children, not like what the Quarrymen have been preaching."

"Hello, sweetheart," Xanatos said in a surprisingly warm tone. "Did you catch up on your sleep?"

"I did, darling," Fox replied. "It helped that Alex slept like a log, of course."

Alan did not know that Xanatos had a family. Their warm tones were so convincing that Alan couldn't say for sure if they were just good actors, or if there really did exist people Xanatos cared about. Normally the corporations were faceless entities to him, and a cynical side of Alan told him that this was some kind of ploy to dissuade Alan from going back on his word, but he could not close his mind to the possibility of genuine affection between the Xanatos family.

"Let's go," he told Miki. "We've got a job to do."

As he and Miki were about to leave, Owen walked out of the room next door to Xanatos' office. Alan assumed that room to be Owen's office.

"Mr. Xanatos," Owen said promptly, "you have an urgent telephone call from Mr. Duval."

"What, again?" Xanatos asked, a faint trace of irritation in his voice. "I'll return the call later," he continued, turning to face his PA. At this, for a brief moment Alan thought he saw a flicker of doubt cross Owen's face.

"Are you sure it's wise to keep the Illuminati waiting?" Owen said in a low voice, though not low enough for Alan to not hear it.

"No," Xanatos replied simply, his eyebrow arched. If he had seen Alan eavesdropping, he was pretending he hadn't. As the two shadowrunners walked down the hall towards the elevators, Xanatos turned back to his family, his arms outstretched.

"Now who needs a piggy-back ride?!" he asked jovially.

***

"I'll tell you something," Alan said to Miki later as the two were walking through the strangely-quiet Manhattan streets in the afternoon sunshine. "I'm glad for those firewalls and ICs Zapper set these commlinks up with. I recorded the whole conversation between Xanatos and myself; it's too risky to email the file to anyone right now if he's watching our communication lines, but it should be safe on the commlink for the time being."

Miki didn't say anything. Alan noticed that she had been very quiet all day, especially when they had left the Xanatos building. Alan of course had told her everything that had happened and played the recording for her, but she hadn't seemed to have paid attention to any of it. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere as the two of them headed to what looked like an abandoned shipping yard. It was the address Xanatos had given Alan, but the area seemed to be deserted; apparently it was scheduled to be rebuilt. If anything it meant that this was their last chance to find out what Sevarius was up to.

After some moments wandering around the site, they came across a heavy iron door at the base of one of the run-down buildings. It looked more like the entrance to a fallout shelter than any door into the building itself. Checking the notepaper that Xanatos had given him, Alan nodded.

"I think this is it," he said. "It matches Xanatos' description, anyway." Noticing Miki hadn't responded, he turned to look at her. She was looking at him strangely, as if she had found out that he was dying.

"Alright, what's bothering you?" Alan asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "Out with it."

Miki turned her eyes away from Alan for a moment, looking downcast.

"Alan..." she began. "We need to talk... about us."

"Now's not a good time, Miki," Alan grumbled. "We've got a job to do here!"

"Just wait a moment," Miki said more forcefully. "I need to say this now before anything else happens."

Alan gave a frustrated sigh. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at Miki impatiently. He was sure that there were better times than in the middle of a job to be discussing their relationship, but he had noticed that Miki had looked troubled since they left Seattle. It seemed she could no longer hold in whatever it was she wanted to say.

"Listen, Alan..." Miki said carefully, her face looking troubled. "My life... my life as a Godzilla-loving shadowrunner... I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope you understand that first. But I... I want... I _need_ normalcy. Not now, not even soon, but definitely someday. I want a house, a yard, picnics on Sunday afternoons, all of that normal stuff, but most of all..." She looked away from Alan at this point, taking in a deep breath before facing him again.

"I want children, Alan," she finished. "And I know that's something you can never give me."

Alan was taken aback. He had never even considered the idea of children before this point. Often times he wondered why Miki still stood by him, knowing that he would outlive her. Now that Miki had brought the subject of children up, he began to see where she was coming from. He did not know what sort of complications would arise from trying to bring his children into the world; the risk was likely far too great. Miki seemed fixed on the idea of having them, however, and the thought that she would be leaving him because of it was tearing Alan apart. He did his best not to let his feelings show, as Miki looked away from him.

"We have to break up," Miki said simply. "We need to start seeing other people."

"Easier said than done," Alan muttered.

"Look," Miki said, reasonably. "I know your options are limited-"

"Limited?!" Alan suddenly exclaimed with such force that Miki jumped. "Look around you! Do you see any female Godzilla mutants roaming around out there?!"

Miki could only stand in silence for a moment, looking very awkward.

"Exactly," Alan said bitterly. "Have a good time looking for normalcy." He stormed off towards the iron door before Miki could say anything. She knew Alan was right, but she could not help but feel that he was being rather unfair. She approached him and was about to argue in her defence, but as Alan pushed his hand on the door it swung open slightly with a slight squeaking sound.

"Someone's already been here..." Alan said quietly. He looked at the card reader, which was showing a green light. Apparently it had been hacked.

"Let's hope they're long gone and that they left something behind," Alan stated, drawing his large Ruger Super Warhawk revolver and stepping through the door. Miki followed close behind him, hardly daring to breath.

The door let to a flight of stairs leading downwards. There was still power running to the area, for the lights flickered on and off. One of the first things Alan noticed was that there had been some kind of a fight, for he saw what looked like large claw marks streaking across the walls and other signs of damage. He ran his own claw through them for a comparison. The stairs ended in a corridor which led to a two-way junction. In spite of the flickering lights, Alan could see perfectly fine thanks to his mutated eyes.

"Which way?" Miki asked quietly.

"Let's go right..." Alan muttered, stepping down the right-hand corridor. The left-hand corridor showed further signs of animalistic damage, but the right one seemed relatively unharmed. As they walked down towards another door at the end on the left-hand wall, Alan looked irritably up at the flickering lights.

"What is it with abandoned sites and flickering lights?" he wondered aloud. "Just once, I'd like to find an abandoned lab that looked like it might have been a nice place to be."

"Quiet!" Miki said in a loud whisper. "I thought I heard something."

With his gun held close, Alan carefully inched his way around the corner and through the door, with Miki a few feet away from him. He noticed that he was now in what looked like an abandoned data storage room, with computer monitors, servers and filing cabinets lining the walls and a plethora of thick cables criss-crossing the floor. Some of the monitors had been broken and some papers were strewn on the floor, but other than that the room looked largely intact, though like the corridors it was not very well-lit. Alan took another two steps into the room, intending to move across to one of the computers.

"Drop it!" a female voice suddenly shouted from his left, accompanied by the click of a gun's hammer. Alan was shocked that someone had been able to get the drop on him, but thought it best not to argue when his ambusher had a clear shot at his head. He dropped his heavy weapon onto the floor, and glanced to his right to get a look at his captor.

"_Alan?"_ Miki asked, speaking into his mind, still unseen. "_What's happened? Who's there?!"_

"_Miki,"_ Alan responded, "_don't take this the wrong way, but there's a woman in here pointing a gun at my head."_ He cursed himself repeatedly in his head. He could not believe that he had blundered into an ambush like this. If he got out of this, he had to make sure he and Miki kept this lapse of concentration to themselves.

"Turn to face me, slowly," the woman commanded. "Keep your hands where I can see them!"

As Alan turned, he got a better look at his would-be attacker. She was an athletically-built woman and also seemed to be of mixed race; part African-American and part Native American. She had tanned skin and long, flowing black hair. She was dressed in a maroon leather jacket over a black shirt, and blue jeans. By all accounts, she was very pretty, but she was regarding Alan with a very stony look, pointing a Colt Manhunter pistol at his chest.

"What happened to you then?" she asked, after a moment to take in his appearance. "Bad accident with a shifting spell?"

Alan remained silent. Quite aside from the fact that was a question he did not feel like answering, something in his gut told him that this was not a woman he should mess around with. He recognised her pistol as one quite common among law enforcement; he had the sudden horrible feeling that she was connected to the police, which would put his mission in serious jeopardy and pretty much end his shadowrunning career.

"Matt!" she suddenly called out, her head inclining towards the door. "Get down here! I got a live one!"

"You too?" a male voice suddenly called back, and Alan found it hard to suppress a low groan. By the sounds of it, Miki had been caught. He wondered why she had not alerted him to this. He looked towards the door and saw Miki come through first, arms raised, followed by a Caucasian man with bright blue eyes, short flaming red hair and a brown trench-coat over a suit. He too was aiming a gun at Miki, and pushed her towards Alan.

"Sorry..." Miki grumbled. "He caught me by surprise."

The man called Matt stood by the woman, keeping his gun trained on the two shadowrunners.

"What do you reckon, Elisa?" Matt asked the woman. "Shadowrunners out to make a quick buck?"

"Best guess," Elisa replied. "You got some cuffs handy? We can have 'em tagged at the station in minutes."

The mention of the name 'Elisa' suddenly brought something to the front of Alan's memory. It was his only chance that they might get out of this mess.

"Wait a minute!" Alan said quickly. "Do you know Goliath, by any chance?"

Elisa suddenly gave a little gasp at the mention of the name 'Goliath'. She looked at Alan with a shocked expression. Matt turned to her, looking puzzled.

"He knows Goliath?" Matt muttered. "You think this guy knows the Manhattan clan?"

"Maybe..." Elisa murmured. It seemed that someone else knowing the names of the gargoyles had knocked the wind out of her. "How long have you known them?" she finally asked.

"Only since last night," Alan replied. "I know you two are having problems, and from the way he acted last night he seemed pretty cut up by it all."

Miki just looked at Alan with contempt on her face. She could not believe he was openly using emotional blackmail to try and save their necks. In danger or not, that was still a very low blow.

"He..." muttered Elisa. "He told you about that?"

"Not exactly," Alan said. "Angela filled me in on the details."

"Wait..." Matt muttered. "If this guy knows the Manhattan Clan, that must mean he's been hanging around Xanatos!" He turned to Elisa, a look of excitement on his face. "You realise what this means? This is our best lead into finding out what that creep's up to!" He looked back at Alan with a triumphant look. "You're coming with us, pal. We've got some nice questions for you."

"Now just hold on!" Alan replied indignantly. "I don't know what you think the deal is between me and Xanatos, bucko, but-"

"Shh!" Miki suddenly said, holding up a warning hand, and everyone fell into silence. "Can you hear that?" she whispered.

Now that no-one was speaking, Alan could definitely hear something. A series of rhythmic clangs, muffled but quite audible, the rhythm being rather fast. To Alan, it sounded like someone running on a metal walkway or on metal stairs. The sound was still quite faint, as if the person who was running was still some distance away.

"Matt..." Elisa whispered, as he and her partner watched the door into the room. "Were there any other doors in the other room?"

"There was one," Matt replied. "Was about to check it out, until I heard you shouting. I ran into the woman in the hallway."

Unseen by the others, Miki slowly backed towards the computer desk near the wall behind her, and carefully removed a data disk from the desk and slipped it into her jeans pocket. The others watched the door with bated breath as the sound of running footsteps grew louder and louder. There was a loud crash as something solid struck a distant wall, and the footsteps grew ever louder until finally the source of the noise burst through the doorway in front of them.

The footsteps had been made by a human man, dressed in what once must have been a respectable suit but was now little more than rags. Rather disconcertingly, he was caked in blood, and his eyes were a deep, blood red with no pupils. He stood in the doorway for a moment, twitching violently, making horrible gagging noises as if his throat had been crushed. It was like he was having some kind of seizure or stroke.

Both police officers held their guns at the ready. It seemed neither of them were sure how to treat this stranger, whether to be easy on them or to be firm. The stranger only continued to survey everyone in the room with those horrible red eyes, still twitching and making those horrid gagging noises. As Alan watched, he noticed that the stranger never blinked.

As the stranger twitched and glanced at each person in the room, his eyes fell on Alan. It was then that it suddenly raised its arm, pointing at Alan, the glare in his eyes somehow intensifying. All of a sudden it opened its mouth, emitting a loud, unearthly shriek, so loud that everyone briefly covered their ears. As the mouth opened, saliva mixed with blood seemed to drip out of it in unhealthy amounts. Then he suddenly lurched forward, staggering towards Alan in sudden twitching, jerking movements. Elisa and Matt kept their guns on the person, and Elisa seemed to have re-discovered the use of her senses.

"Stop right there, mister!" she shouted, but the stranger blindly ignored her, apparently only having eyes for Alan.

"Freeze!" Matt shouted, but to no avail. Alan raised his arms and backed away, now looking very nervous, yet the stranger continued to advance, and in a few moments was on Alan, arms raised and mouth opened, apparently about to try and bite him. In panic, Alan swung his left fist – the mutated, Godzilla-like arm – and felt a sharp shot of pain up his arm as the fist collided with the attacker's face. The stranger's head snapped to one side and a horrible snapping sound was heard as he collapsed to the floor, twitching and convulsing.

"I shouldn't have done that..." Alan gasped, shaking. "I shouldn't have done that..." It seemed he had underestimated the strength of his punches through that arm, and he feared that he had somehow broken the man's neck. All the while, a horrible, nagging feeling clawed at the inside of his stomach. He could not shake off the feeling that he had seen eyes like that before.

As the group watched, the twitching on the supposed corpse suddenly started becoming more violent, and the same loud gargled, shrieking noise was heard coming from his mouth. Blood started pouring out from beneath the body, and horrible snapping and cracking sounds could be heard. Alan backed away towards Miki while Elisa moved to check the door. From the distance the sound of many muffled footsteps could be heard, getting louder and louder.

"Elisa?" Matt called, looking rather pale. "I think we need to get outta here!"

"Agreed," Elisa nodded, looking at the other three. "My car's not far from here. Move it! Go!"

With that, she ran back down the corridor, Matt and Miki following close behind. Alan stooped to retrieve his gun then moved to follow, but turned to look behind him. He saw that the body was now moving, and as he watched he saw that it was being raised on what looked like a set of crab-like legs, growing out of the body's stomach and rib-cage. Alan fought the urge to be sick and ran after the others towards the exit. In the darkness, he could see other figures emerging from one of the doors at the other end of the corridor, the footsteps getting ever louder, and the new arrivals making the same horrible shrieking noises.

Dashing back up the stairs, Alan burst out into the fading daylight, just in time to see Miki following Matt towards the back of one of the abandoned warehouses. Figuring that he would rather take his chances with the detectives than try to outrun the mob, he quickly followed. Behind him he could still hear the mob's footsteps, and he could even hear a phrase being repeated by some of them again and again:

"_The Enemy..."_

Alan was not willing to stick around and find out what they meant, so he followed the others around the warehouse to a well-maintained maroon sedan – a Mercury Comet, Alan recognised it as – which the others had already piled into, Elisa at the driver's seat. Miki was in one of the back seats, urging Alan to catch up. The mutant dove in through the open door, and Miki slammed the door shut behind him.

As Elisa struggled to turn the engine on, Alan looked out the side window to see a crowd of at least twenty people had followed him. All of them were in various states of disarray, all of them were covered in blood, and all of them had the same red eyes. They continued to make those unearthly wails as they charged straight at the car. Within seconds, they slammed into it and began shaking the vehicle and punching the glass, trying to break through and get at the cowering humans inside.

"Elisa, hurry!" Matt shouted, as the pounding intensified. No matter how strong the glass was, Alan was certain that it would break if this kept up. The creatures continued to wail and drool as, after several tense moments, the engine finally roared into life.

"Hold on!" Elisa shouted, as she sent the car careening out of the area, knocking down two of the attackers in the process. One of them managed to grab onto the rear bumper and was dragged along the tarmac behind them, before finally dropping. The survivors gave chase, but the car was just too fast for them, and eventually they were clear. All four occupants of the car took a moment to catch their breath. By this time, it was almost sunset, and the light was glowing an orange colour.

"What the fuck was all that about?!" Alan demanded.

"You tell us," Matt retorted. "Xanatos not telling you all you need to know?" He turned to look at Elisa, who was concentrating on the road. "What do you suggest we do, partner?"

"Get on the radio to the precinct," Elisa said authoritatively. "Get a SWAT team over to that warehouse and get whatever info's left in there." As Matt made the call, Elisa also said, "I say we head over to Xanatos' place, let the clan know what's happening."

"What?" Matt asked disbelievingly. "You don't think a SWAT team can handle a bunch of crack-heads? Shouldn't we get these two clowns," he continued, jerking his thumb in Alan's direction, "into custody?"

"We can easily keep an eye on them," Elisa reasoned. "I think processing them can wait. Right now, if Xanatos does have anything to do with this, we should take the chance to question him. You and I both know what Sevarius is capable of..." She trailed away at that point, as if a painful subject was being broached. "Dunkelzahn knows what he was doing in that lab."

At this, Miki quickly slid the data disc out of her pocket by a fraction, long enough for Alan to see it and nod, before quickly hiding it again.

"Alright," Matt replied, looking very uncertain. He turned and glared at Alan. "However, try anything funny and we drop you. Clear?"

"Crystal," Alan shrugged. Matt just nodded and reached down for his commlink. Alan sighed as he realised that now he would have two people watching his every move in this place. He too wanted to know what was going on; he was troubled by the red eyes of those creatures looking so familiar, not to mention the mutation that had begun as Alan had watched.

Whatever was going on, he was sure that he was onto something big. He only hoped he and Miki could get the information they needed and make a clean getaway before the likes of Elisa Maza and Goliath could follow them.


	5. Doctor Horrible

**Doctor Horrible**

By the time the group arrived back at the Xanatos building, the sun had almost set. It turned out that Elisa and Matt had special clearance in the building, due to their relationship with the gargoyles. Alan and Miki followed them up to the tallest tower where the statues resided; Alan wasn't keen on the idea of giving any data to Xanatos, not until after they had had a look at it themselves. It was then that he remembered what Elisa had said about knowing what sort of person Sevarius was, so he tried to question her.

"What were you two doing in that lab anyway?" he asked.

"Not that it's any of your business," Elisa replied, "but we were there following up on a new lead we got. We've been trying to nail that psycho for a long time; we went to find evidence of what he was up to this time."

"This time?" Alan asked. "What else do you know about him?"

"Nice try," Elisa retorted, "but do you really think I'm just going to talk about everything? I'm surprised you even spoke to Goliath and lived to tell the tale; he hates guys like you."

"I gathered that," Alan muttered. "I think he bruised his hand on my neck."

The quartet stepped out into the cold air, close to where Goliath was hunched. To the west, the sun was now sinking below the horizon, and Alan had to admit that the view of Manhattan's skyline from here was nothing short of spectacular. It was a very clear night, and from this height he imagined that he could see into infinity. It reminded him of the times he had spent gazing out to sea from the cliffs back in Whitby when he was a child, a long time ago.

"_If only you could hear your own thoughts, Alan,"_ he heard Miki saying in his mind. _"I never figured you to be the introspective type."_

"_Now that you've said that, I feel really old,"_ Alan thought.

As the sun vanished completely from view, a loud cracking noise was heard, and Alan saw the cracks spreading across Goliath's statue as it shook violently. Suddenly the statue seemed to explode, sending pieces of concrete flying everywhere. The humans raised their arms to protect their faces from the flying shrapnel. The now-very-much-alive Goliath stood bolt upright, arms raised, wings unfurled to their full length, releasing a loud, bellowing roar. Down below, Alan could hear the other statues bursting open, the other gargoyles giving similar roars as they awakened. Alan and Miki stood aghast.

"I'll say this for them..." Miki gasped, "They have a flair for the dramatic."

After he had awakened, Goliath slowly turned around to see the humans stood behind him. Upon seeing Elisa, Alan noticed that his face became a mask of regret, one which quickly faded as he walked towards the trapdoor. As he passed Alan he shot a familiar look of great mistrust before stepping down into the tower. Elisa followed behind him, and as the others followed Matt brought up the rear.

"What news do you bring, Elisa?" Goliath rumbled, in a rather frosty tone. Alan knew this had something to do with what Angela was talking about.

"Well, we think we've got a lead on that Sevarius case I mentioned to you," Elisa replied, looking awkward for a moment. "We checked out one of his labs, and caught those two while we were there." She indicated Alan and Miki as they stepped out of the tower and into the corridor. "The changeling says he knows you."

Goliath merely snorted. "Only in the loosest sense of the word, Elisa. You know how I feel about associating with those in his profession."

"I know, Goliath," Elisa replied. "Did you hear anything about these guys before?"

"Lexington overheard Xanatos mention that he was hiring them to look into Sevarius' activities," Goliath replied, sounding irritated. "He should have known better than to drag us into that monster's dealings." Both he and Elisa were silent for a moment, looking awkwardly at each other. It seemed that both of them had reached a silent agreement not to discuss their relationship issues in front of others.

"Anyway," Elisa said, shaking herself, "you might want to have Lex look at these." She pulled a series of data discs out of her jacket pockets and handed them to Goliath. "We took them from the lab. Knowing Sevarius, he'll have put all sorts of encryptions on them, and that's Lex's specialty."

"I see," Goliath said, taking the discs with a sceptical look on his face. "I shall have Lexington look at these immediately. I do not doubt that he is already in the server room; that is usually the first place he goes to upon awakening."

"Right," Elisa nodded. "I'm gonna go look for Xanatos. I've got some questions that he needs to answer. Matt, keep an eye on those two," she continued, indicating Alan and Miki before heading out across the courtyard. Goliath marched down the corridor and around a corner, leaving Alan, Miki and Matt stood in the corridor, Matt looking at both Alan and Miki with the same distrustful look.

"So..." Alan said after about a minute of silence. "So you all expect me to just come along like a good little boy, even after almost getting killed by a bunch of mad, blood-stained goons?"

"It'll be easier for you if you do," Matt retorted, his arms folded. "Just keep your nose clean and you might be able to walk out of Manhattan tomorrow." At this, Alan just sidled closer to Matt until they were almost face to face. Matt now looked slightly unnerved by Alan's apparent calm, and Miki noticed an odd sneer playing across Alan's face. She knew he was about to start trouble, which she was sure would backfire.

"Not bloody likely," Alan stated. All of a sudden he punched Matt in the midsection, causing him to double over, the wind knocked out of him. Alan quickly followed that up by punching the detective square on the jaw, causing him to collapse to the floor, unconscious. Now that it seemed safe to do so, Alan ran down the corridor in the direction Goliath had gone. Miki stood for a moment, shocked at Alan's audacity and unsure of what to do for a moment, before moving after him.

As Alan rounded the corner and ran further down, about to pass an open door on his left, he hoped that he could make a clean getaway. He was not sure what he was going to do next; he only knew for certain that he would work better without the police watching his every move. All of a sudden, as he passed the door, something collided with his side, slamming him into the wall. Before he even had time to react, he was punched across the jaw and sent sprawling to the floor. Dazed and seeing spots dancing before his eyes, he tried to reach for his gun, only to find a hand forcefully clenched around his forearm, a grip so powerful he felt like his arm was about to be snapped in two.

"I would not do that, if I were you," a deep, snarling voice growled, and as Alan's vision began to clear he saw Goliath knelt over him, pinning him to the floor, his eyes pupil-less and glowing with a white light. He was looking at Alan with a look of barely-restrained rage, and for one horrible moment Alan though the gargoyle was going to kill him there and then. He could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching, and Goliath looked up towards the corner as they approached.

"Alan!" Miki's voice could be heard shouting. It seemed she had the exact same fear Alan had, and Goliath's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. All of a sudden a voice could be heard shouting in a frustrated tone from the room nearby.

"No! I don't believe this!"

Alan recognised that voice to be Lexington's, and he heard Miki approaching the room the voice had come from. Goliath seemed torn for a moment between restraining Alan and seeing what Lexington was shouting about, and in the end he let Alan go to follow Miki back into the room. Alan staggered to his feet and slowly followed him into a room marked 'Server Room'. Inside, the room was piled high to the ceiling with computer equipment, computer servers, cables, VR rigs, and anything else Matrix-related Alan could think of. At one desk sat Lexington, who was looking at several screens full of what looked like gibberish to Alan. Miki was moving to stand beside him, with Goliath close behind, keeping a distrustful eye on her.

"Damn Sevarius..." Lexington was saying, frustrated. "I knew he'd use some kind of encryption, but nothing like this..."

"What is it?" Miki asked. Without Zapper on the team, it seemed to fall to her to figure out technology; this sort of techno-babble drove Alan to the point of distraction.

"This encryption's actually pretty simple to get rid of, in theory," Lexington explained. "Sevarius spread the decryption code across several data discs, like the ones Goliath gave me. The only problem is that you need _all_ the discs that have the pieces of the code or else you're stuck. It's a pain to have to set up such a code and keep swapping discs to input all the parts of the code, so most these days don't bother with it. It's all but fool-proof as far as keeping out hackers goes though. Even if I could figure out what else is needed without the missing pieces, it'd take me all week to do so." He sighed, and turned to look at Goliath with an exasperated expression. "The fact is that if you want this data quickly, we need the discs that have the remaining pieces of the code." Goliath just shook his head, rubbing his temple; clearly he was as irritated by computers as Alan was.

"Maybe this will help?" Miki chimed in, producing the data disc she had taken from her pocket. Lexington took the disc from her and slotted it into the terminal he was using.

"Please let this be the last disc..." he muttered, as he pressed several keys on the deck he was using. All of a sudden the lines of gibberish on the display cleared, and a set of diagrams appeared.

"Yes!" Lexington exclaimed, pumping his fist in victory. "Now let's see what our old pal Sevarius has been up to." He leaned in closer to the screen and began to pore over the new documents on the screen.

"I take it Sevarius has given you guys trouble before?" Alan asked. Goliath frowned at him.

"His monstrous experiments continue to destroy the lives of innocent people," the gargoyle snarled. "His experiments into the blending of human and animal DNA have affected even those closest to us." At this, Alan looked down at his own reptilian arm with a morose expression.

"That sounds familiar..." he muttered. Everything he had heard and read about Sevarius was painfully reminding him of the CCI, and their many attempts to create a perfect fusion of human and Godzilla, none of them quite succeeding. He wondered if they had ever found where the bodies of all those innocent people were buried. Goliath had been on the point of questioning Alan further, but he was interrupted by Lexington.

"I think I've found the title of the project these discs cover," he said. "Something called 'Project D-Cell'."

"He was making batteries?" Alan said, in a rather snarky tone.

"You wish," Lexington retorted. "It's obviously short for something..." He turned back to the screen for a moment. "I think this is it," he said, after a few seconds. Both he and Miki were looking at the screen as if unsure what to make of it. Alan moved around Goliath to have a look at the screen. Amongst the myriad diagrams and huge amounts of scientific terms he could not hope to understand, he eventually found what Lexington was looking at.

"Destroyer Cell?" he asked. Just the name alone made him feel very uncomfortable. From his experience, anything with 'destroyer' in the name could bring nothing but ill upon anyone unfortunate enough to cross it. He was not sure if the name was indicative of the function, or whether Sevarius was just being melodramatic. He leaned in for a closer look at the screen. Amongst the reams and reams of notes were two diagrams of what looked like large crab-like creatures. The images were rather fuzzy, but they each had a purple and red colouring and reminded Alan of giant spider crabs that nested around Japan. Lexington was looking at the writing below the pictures.

"These things are absolutely tiny," Lexington breathed. "I'm talking microscopic, not much bigger than a single germ. This larger one," he continued, pointing at the larger, more vicious-looking crab, "has been labelled as the 'queen'..." He continued to study the notes intensely. Alan moved in for a closer look, and eventually could read Sevarius' notes. This experiment had apparently begun some two months ago, and the notes continued until a date about a week ago. Alan read it aloud for the benefit of Miki and Goliath:

"_Entry 2: The queen parasite reached me yesterday without any unnecessary disputes. My contractor won't reveal the source of this magnificent specimen, but no matter; I will be able to find out by myself sooner or later. Right now, my concern is to study this new life-form and catalogue it to the best of my considerable ability._

"_Even in the short time that the queen had been in transit, she had already spawned many children in the test tube she arrived in. In further study I have found that she is capable of reproducing at an incredible rate. I discovered that she actually lays microscopic eggs, which only hatch after two seconds into drone parasites. I was told that this project was centred on a new parasitical virus which had been discovered, but no known virus acts like this. This looks to me more like some kind of animal, yet I refer to it as a parasite after further results from today's tests._

"_You see, I finally caught her. I found her skulking around the back streets by daylight. In this weaker form she was easy to subdue. Upon injecting the queen into the bloodstream the subject began to writhe about in what I can imagine to be unfathomable levels of pain. It was delicious to see her in such agony, after all of the trouble that she has caused me..."_

The notes picked up again several days later. A lot of what had come seemed to be the writings of a madman, speaking of the pleasure he felt at the pain and suffering of others:

"_Entry 7: The host's behaviour continues to be erratic. She seems to irrationally change from her usual, hostile-yet-somewhat-intelligent self to an almost bestial state, and then suddenly to a much calmer state, never speaking but watching me carefully. It is like she has developed some kind of multiple personality disorder. Could the parasite actually be sentient, speaking through the host? It's one possibility, and it is almost as if the host's advanced immune system is trying to retain control. It is a fitting punishment for her, to have her mind fractured in this way..._

"_Entry 15: Confound this specimen! It has been extremely unresponsive in my efforts to process it into a mutagen. None of my usual procedures seem to work with it. I am not even sure why I am proceeding with this research; the queen has had no noticeable mutagenic effects on the host. Yet still I proceed. In spite of these apparent failures, I still hold out some hope, like an encouraging whisper in my head, urging me to keep trying. Perhaps a less orthodox method is required..._

"_Entry 17: A revelation! After these past few days of frustration, I abandoned all pretence of refinement or scientific procedure. After the parasite had resisted all efforts to process it, I decided direct injection was the way to go._

"_I still hold a number of test subjects taken from the slums and sewers. They were to be experimented on for a client seeking potential gain from armoured Mutates, but what I have been offered for my experiments with this parasite has changed my priorities somewhat. I directly injected blood from the host into some human degenerate in one of the cages._

"_The results were extraordinary! In less than twenty seconds, the subject underwent a radical change. Though not as mutagenic as I had hoped, the eyes did noticeably change to a blood-red colour, and the subject now seems to have been reduced to a bestial state. It twitched violently like a madman, and then tried to reach through the bars of the cage, trying to claw at myself and the other test subjects! Such ferocity is delicious to watch!_

"_Indeed, I can hear it now, retching, shrieking and wailing into the night. I have just looked over at the queen host, and she was smiling at me strangely, in a way uncharacteristic of her. Could this be the 'other personality' I pondered over before? I should try to communicate with it if I can; if this really is the parasite showing itself, I could be onto something major here..."_

What followed were a series of photographs and video clips of what happened to subjects after the parasite had been inserted into a metahuman body. It was just as the doctor described; within seconds, all of them had become like the same snarling, slavering beasts Alan had seen in that laboratory.

"_Entry 24: It has been too risky to take new test subjects; my client is snooping around, for I have not been sharing all of the details of this experiment with him. I know that this is for the best, considering that such greater rewards await me..._

"_For I spoke to the other mind sharing the queen's body. To my disappointment this intelligence did not belong to the queen parasite, which apparently is as bestial as the drones it creates. Instead, this intelligence, for lack of a better term, 'hitched a ride' with the parasite. It spoke to me of things... marvellous, incredible things..._

"_Though it embarrasses me to admit it, I was so caught up in the excitement of what I was hearing that my fevered mind did not commit most of it to memory. What I can say for certain is that all of my wildest hopes and dreams can come true. Of course, my new client has only agreed to reward me if I can help it to build an army. It will also be speaking to the host, for her psyche still resides within the body, and our plans will proceed much more smoothly if we have her on our side..."_

The next entry was not dated until the following month, several days before the last entry:

"_Entry 25: How terribly lax of me! I have been so involved and wrapped up in my work over the last month that I have forgotten to keep this journal updated! Fortunately I still have my research notes to hand, so I must transcribe them here._

_The results from the past month have been extraordinary. The army which I create for my lord is growing, and when the day comes it will grow even more. All of Manhattan will become the base of my lord's glorious return! When the time comes to release the first heralds, I will no longer need to tread on eggshells for fear of my former client finding out what it is I am up to. He too will bow to a power greater than him or I!_

"_I am glad that I will not need to always be physically present to spread the Word. I was able to observe how the parasite is passed on from the host to a new drone. The parasite continues to thrive in the host's blood and saliva. One bite or ingestion of the blood is all that is needed to pass the parasite on, whereupon it will instantly create a new drone. I have spent the past month bringing in more subjects. I choose my targets carefully; the homeless and destitute, who have no-one to miss them. Now my cages are filling up rapidly with these mindless beings, their human rationality and inhibitions eaten away by the parasite._

"_The drones try to attack me, convert me into one of them, whenever I open the door to hand them a new potential. I am sure my lord will not allow that to happen, for I still need all my mental faculties if I am to help him succeed in his plan. I too have a plan, however, to leave Manhattan as the Day of Ascension approaches. I will not allow myself to become another mindless drone; I want to witness the rise of the New World myself and reap all the delicious benefits..."_

In the next entry, Alan noted how the 'drones', as Sevarius called them, never seemed to tire, eat or fall to illness. They seemed to be locked in a permanent state of pure, unfathomable rage. Even a month after they were first injected, they were still on their feet. He proceeded onto the next entry:

"_Entry 27: The army is becoming ever more glorious, especially since I have learned of another remarkable property of the parasite and the mutagenic potential._

_The drones never attack each other, nor do they seem to feed or sleep. I found that one of them had apparently starved to death in the early hours of the morning, little over a month to the day since its creation, and so I moved into the cage to try and dispose of the body._

"_The drones all pulled against the restraints I have put in place, desperate to reach me, but for the most part it was to no avail. I do not understand why my lord will not call his drones off. Perhaps he is testing me for when the great day comes. I show no fear around his army, and for that I am sure that I will prove myself worthy..._

_Anyway, I am getting somewhat off-track. It's just that when I think of the rewards that I have been promised..._

_As I was examining the body, I heard the most painful-sounding noise imaginable. The drone was moving! It had merely been in some form of hibernation! It was twitching and convulsing at an incredible rate, horrible snapping sounds could be heard and a pool of blood was forming underneath it. I ran back out of the cage and locked it, and then I watched, fascinated, as the body continued to writhe like how a shot dog struggles to hold onto life, and then I saw something growing out of the body!_

"_I cannot begin to adequately describe what happened after that. However, it happened again with two other drones, and this time I had the good sense to record the process onto film."_

Right below the passage was the video file in question. Lexington, now looking very uneasy, began to play it. As the video progressed, Miki very nearly screamed out loud.

For as they watched the violently twitching body on the ground, Alan saw that something was growing out of the stomach and chest. As he leaned in closer, he saw that what was growing was actually a set of six long, crab-like legs, all coloured in shades of red and purple. They grew incredibly quickly; before Alan had time to think, they stretched to about two feet long. As he watched, he also saw that the skin on the 'drone' was peeling away!

Suddenly the figure reared, his back curving backwards at an angle impossible to humans. As the skin fell away, Alan saw that, where he expected muscle to be, he now saw a hard, spike-covered armour plating, of the same vivid purple and red colours as the legs. The spine seemed to stretch, making the upper body grow taller, expanding outwards and becoming much thicker, and the arms began twisting and changing, the hands mutating into a pair of crab-like pincers.

By this point, Alan was already on the verge of being sick, but then he saw the unfortunate man's head shake violently. All of a sudden it seemed to explode from within, as large armoured fins suddenly burst out of the sides of the head, the whole skull elongating and covered with spikes like a sort of crest. Smaller pincers writhed, lining the mouth, and as the thing released a loud, animalistic shriek, Alan saw that the tongue had become much thicker and had grown an extra set of teeth. As the creature turned to face the camera, glaring with pupil-less, blood-red eyes, the video stopped.

Alan looked away from the screen, unable to look any further. That had to be the sickest thing he thought he had ever seen in his entire life. He was also painfully reminded of the Organiser G-1 experiment so long ago, and of the effects that it had had on so many people. He was now starting to envision Godzilla suddenly bursting out from inside him, shedding Alan's skin like tossing old clothes aside.

After a second or two, he looked around at the others. Lexington was staring at the screen wide-eyed, apparently unable to grasp the full extent of the horror he had just witnessed. Goliath was gazing at the screen, his fist clenched and his face giving away the silent fury that boiled inside him. Miki was looking at Alan very awkwardly; she had picked up the thoughts in Alan's mind, and now she seemed on the verge of tears.

"So now ya kno', lad," Hudson's voice suddenly resounded through the room. The others turned back towards the door to see Hudson standing there, his face very grave.

"Hudson, old friend," Goliath said, sounding rather surprised to see Hudson there. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough, Goliath," Hudson replied. He turned to look at both Alan and Miki. "Now you probably have some idea of the sort of person David Xanatos is. You can usually get a good measure of someone's character from the company they keep."

Alan could not help but wonder if Hudson was taking a swipe at him, but he knew there was truth to the old gargoyle's words. If this was the kind of person on Xanatos' payroll, then the entrepreneur was a dangerous individual. He rubbed his temples, as if trying to erase any recollection of the CCI or Mitsuo Katagiri from his mind. After taking a moment to compose himself, he leaned back towards the screen and read the remaining entries:

"_Magnificent, is it not? It seems the parasite fuses itself together, as well as ingesting the organic matter within the host. Inside the host, every part of their internal organs is replaced by this new creature – which I have called the 'Warrior' – essentially turning the drone into a mere cocoon where the Warrior grows. Upon ready to be born, it 'hatches' out of the skin of the drone. By my calculations, this process can take a month at most, though I have observed some 'premature' births._

"_For example, I found out that extreme, fatal trauma to the drone can cause the Warrior to be born early, as the parasite moves to defend itself. However, these Warriors are not fully-developed, forced to take the fleshy drone skin instead of the fully-developed armoured carapace. As a result, they are much more easily dispatched than the fully-grown Warriors, who by all my tests are essentially indestructible."_

The next several entries were indistinct. Sevarius was now typing erratically, as if he had forgotten how to type effectively. A few phrases could be made distinct; he kept speaking of "treading carefully" and "preparing for the Day of Ascension". At last, he was able to read the final entry, which spoke of releasing the drones and Warriors and the 'queen' would control them, relying on moving quietly and not alerting anyone to their presence before the "final assault". At the very end, as Sevarius talked about getting himself to a safe distance, a few words remained:

"_The Day of Ascension comes... The armies will rise again...Victory is inevitable."_

As Alan finished reading the entries, more and more he could see what Hudson was talking about. Dr. Sevarius, to Alan's mind, was a certifiable psycho. Whether he had always been like this or had been influenced by some external force Alan could not say, though this babble about his 'master' definitely pointed at something bending the scientist to its will.

"So whatever Sevarius was talking about..." Lexington mused, his eyes wide. "This parasite or whatever... It's had a whole week to spread the infection through Manhattan! I thought it had been quiet these past few nights..."

"Come to think of it," Miki chimed in, "I thought it was quiet today and yesterday. This city is home to thousands, if not millions of people, but there were nowhere near as many out and about as I thought there would be."

"There have been several disappearances reported in the news of late," Hudson said. "Of course, not every disappearance is reported, especially not among the homeless."

Alan waited for Goliath's response, but the hulking gargoyle was silent. He still had the same glare as Alan had seen earlier; he was sure his eyes would be shooting sparks if they could. After a short moment, he turned to face Alan.

"Where is Elisa?" he rumbled.

"Elisa?" Alan replied. "She went looking for Xanatos. Probably in his office now, trying to arrest him." Goliath gave a loud snort of disapproval, clearly not impressed with Alan's joke, and turned to Hudson.

"Hudson," he said, "find the others and send them to the tower. I will meet you there when I have spoken to Elisa." As Hudson nodded and left, Goliath turned to Lexington. "Lexington, join us up there when you are finished. Bring... _them_ with you when you do so," he finished, indicating Alan and Miki before turning and leaving the room, heading back down the corridor.

"There's still something I don't get," Alan said. "Sevarius didn't mention who the host of this so-called 'queen' was. Any chance that it's on there somewhere?"

"Why'd we need to know that?" Lexington asked dubiously.

"If there's a photo of her on there," Alan said, "we'll know who she is and what she looks like. Then, with any luck, if she goes down then the rest of those things will be in disarray, and thus easily picked off. I'm sure it's like that with ants and bees; anything where there's a 'queen' involved."

"You're assuming a lot," Lexington retorted. "Besides, she's probably already turned into some big bad bug herself." He paused for a moment, before sighing. "Though now you've mentioned it, I've gotten curious, and I know I won't be satisfied until I know the answer. Let's see here..." He browsed the doctor's journal for a moment, looking for any clue as to the host's identity.

"Here we are..." he muttered. He had found a link leading to a separate page from the journal. Upon opening it up and examining the contents, however, he suddenly let out an animalist snarl, his large eyes glowing with that familiar white light.

"Not her!" he snarled.

"Who?" Alan asked, before leaning towards the screen to get a better look. On the screen he saw photos of two women strapped to an examination table. The first was a human, with a shock of flaming red hair and wearing what looked like a golden tiara, wearing little except a white shirt and a loincloth. The other photo showed a gargoyle that looked eerily similar to the human, only with sky-blue skin and large wings. By gargoyle standards she seemed reasonably pretty, but her expression was positively murderous.

"She's called Demona," Lexington snarled, pointing at the gargoyle's picture. "Goliath is not going to like this..."

"She and Goliath are connected?" Miki asked, also leaning in for a look. "What sort of relationship was it?"

"The, uh..." Lexington paused, his eyes returning to their normal selves. "The complicated kind. It's a long story; you may even hear it one day, but not now."

"Hang about..." Alan muttered, looking more closely at Demona's picture. "She looks a lot like-"

"Angela?" Lexington cut in, finishing Alan's sentence. "Yeah, but she doesn't like to talk about it, so I wouldn't bring it up in conversation if I were you."

Alan just nodded. He could take a good guess at what the physical similarities meant. It also explained why parents were such a touchy subject for Angela.

"I don't get this," Miki said, looking puzzled and pointing at the two pictures. "Who's the other woman, and why does she look so similar?"

"They're both the same person," Lexington replied, impatiently. "That's just how Demona looks during the day."

"But I thought gargoyles turned into stone during the day, not turned into humans!" Miki replied.

"To cut a long story short," Lexington said, "she got herself hexed by the very sprite she was supposed to be controlling. She wanted to see the sun, now she does, in the body of the thing she hates the most." He was on the point of powering down the system when Alan chimed in, suddenly remembering what it was he was supposed to be doing there.

"Let me make a copy of that," Alan said.

"What for?" Lexington asked.

"Let's just say Xanatos isn't the only one who wants to know what Sevarius was up to," Alan replied, fiddling with his commlink and setting up a wireless connection to Lexington's terminal. He immediately began the download.

"You mean you're going to double-cross Xanatos?!" Lexington said incredulously. "Not that I mind, but I'm starting to think Goliath was right about you two." He looked at them both, disappointed.

"Welcome to the shadows, mate," Alan replied sardonically, as the download finished. "Right, let's get up to that tower before Goliath comes looking for us."

Lexington sighed, powering down the terminal. He picked up a small commlink from a side-table, strapped it to his wrist and moved out into the corridor. Alan and Miki followed. Miki kept staring daggers at Alan, but the mutant didn't feel he had done anything wrong. This was all part-and-parcel of being a shadowrunner; you did your job, you got paid, and sometimes you had to pull off double and even triple-crosses to make sure the job got done. If Lexington had pictured shadowrunning to be some form of ersatz heroism, he was about to get a serious reality check.

"Listen," Lexington said as they walked down the corridor towards the tallest tower, "don't mention Demona's involvement in all this to Goliath. He... well, to cut a long story short he loses his judgement around her. He's got his reasons – Dunkelzahn knows we all feel the way he does - but he needs to keep his head together."

"Say no more," Alan shrugged. As the group climbed the tower and emerged on the windswept battlements, they found the rest of the gargoyles, plus Elisa and Matt, waiting for them. Matt, now sporting a black eye, was in the process of talking to someone through his commlink, while the others listened.

"Understood," he was saying. "We'll be there as soon as possible." With that, he hung up.

"How bad is it?" Elisa asked.

"Hundreds," Matt replied gravely. "Maybe thousands. They're all those red-eyed freaks we saw at that lab, not to mention a load of giant bugs. They're all over the damn island. Our boys are working to move as many of the uninfected as possible to this tower. I hate to say it, but it's probably the only safe place there is now; pretty much everywhere else has been overrun."

"Why not just get them off this island?" Alan asked, shrugging.

"We can't," Elisa replied sternly. "Xanatos told me the whole story. He's put quarantine measures on all of Manhattan. Anyone trying to get off the island will be shot down."

"So everyone's going to end up indebted to Xanatos," Brooklyn muttered, scathingly. "Charming."

"We'll help you out on the streets, Elisa," Broadway chimed in. "Even if a Quarryman doesn't want our help, he's getting it anyway," he added, with a toothy grin.

"Then it is settled," Goliath said, in a strong, commanding voice. "Angela, Lexington, go with Broadway. Save as many people as you can, and make sure they reach this tower." He then turned to Brooklyn. "You and I will head for the Labyrinth. The civilians down there must be warned. No doubt Talon and his clan will provide their assistance."

"What about them?" Brooklyn asked, jerking his head in the direction of the two shadowrunners. Goliath turned to look at them, apparently considering them for a moment.

"We will take them with us," he finally said. "I do not want them out of my sight where they can cause trouble for us."

Alan was about to say something spiteful as a retort, but Miki gave a firm shake of her head, and he fell silent. It seemed that Goliath had said everything that he wanted to say, for he turned to look over the battlements and across the cityscape. Many lights in the city were out.

"I'll talk to Xanatos," Hudson spoke up, "and see about keepin' this place secure. I don't doubt those creatures'll be comin' here where they learn where potential recruits are goin'."

At this, Bronx let out a series of growls, a worried look on that strangely-humanoid face as he looked to the south-west.

"Do'nay fret, Bronx," Hudson said kindly. "Jeffrey's far away from all this, on Staten Island. Nothin's goin' ter reach 'im tonight, not on our watch."

"Right, we'd better be off," Elisa said, motioning to the others. "We'll see you back here, assuming we all live that long."

"We will, Elisa," Goliath said, turning to look at her. His expression was difficult to read; it was like determination mixed with worry. "This is merely another test for our clan to overcome."

With that, he motioned for Alan and Miki to approach himself and Brooklyn. Alan decided he would fly with Brooklyn, for he did not trust Goliath to not drop him on purpose. Angela and Broadway, meanwhile, would be carrying Elisa and Matt. As the group prepared to go their separate ways, Alan heard Elisa speaking.

"How'd you get that black eye, anyway?" she was saying to Matt. A smirk spread across Alan's face, and he wondered if the detective would be able to admit that he let his suspect clout him.

"I went to the bathroom," Matt then said, "and I slipped on a bar of soap. What's it look like?"


	6. Notes from Underground

**Notes from Underground**

It soon became apparent that Miki did not enjoy the feeling of flight outside of a plane. As she sat cradled in Goliath's arms she felt her stomach churning and continuously fought a strong urge to be sick. Looking across at Alan been carried through the air by Brooklyn, she saw that he seemed to be loving every minute of it. She began to wonder how she had stuck by him for so long, since – the issue of species aside - the two were so drastically different in a lot of ways.

Quite by accident, she looked down and she saw the teeming crowds below that Matt had mentioned. This served to make her feel more nauseous, not only from the vertigo, but from the rippling effect caused by the movement of the thousands of bodies below, giving her the impression that she was flying over a sea of red. Above the rushing wind she could now hear the horrible, shrieking wails of the creatures that were once ordinary men and women below. The city sounded as if it was in the midst of pure chaos. She looked away, her eyes tight shut, burying her face in Goliath's chest.

"Dear God," she muttered. "Help us."

"God had nothing to do with this," Goliath rumbled. Looking across to see how Brooklyn was doing, he saw that, now that he had gotten a good look at the state of affairs in the city, Alan's expression had now become one of grim resolve. He still did not trust the shadowrunners, and he was sure that Xanatos had arranged something with them that would endanger his clan, so he knew he would have to keep a close eye on them. In spite of himself, however, he could not help pitying Miki.

After several minutes of flying, the group landed in a deserted alleyway, apparently un-noticed by the marauding creatures. On the ground their cries were almost deafening, and sounds of gunfire could be heard coming from all directions. Goliath moved over to a large grating in the ground and pulled it open, letting the others climb down before him before climbing inside himself, closing the grating behind him.

The sewers, as Alan had expected, were dark. He held Miki's hand to guide her through the blackness; it seemed the gargoyles also had improved visual clarity in the dark, for neither of them had brought any lamps. Everything had been planned in such a hurry; Alan was sure they were making it all up as they went along. There was also a horrible smell like rotting meat in the tunnels, and Alan visibly gagged.

"It stinks like an abattoir down here!" Alan gasped. "Not even Seattle's sewers are this bad."

Brooklyn turned back to look at Alan. "We haven't got time," he said, sardonically, "to go back and get air fresheners, bucko."

"Actually, the mercenary has a point," Goliath said, stopping in his tracks. He inhaled a few times, shook himself and then continued. "I have stepped through these tunnels to the Labyrinth many times, and the emanations have never been this foul. We should proceed with caution from here onwards; I have the feeling our enemy is close."

Much of the rest of the journey continued in silence. Alan kept his gun close, while Miki concentrated, ready to throw up a barrier spell if the need arose. Alan watched every corner and side-tunnel, dreading that at any moment more of the infected – or worse, Demona – would jump out from the shadows and ambush them. After some time of this, he approached Brooklyn.

"What is this 'Labyrinth' anyway?" he asked in a loud whisper.

"The safest homeless shelter in this state," Brooklyn replied. "In spite of what Xanatos wants the world to think, there are poor people in Manhattan too."

"Who's this 'Talon' guy, anyway?" Alan asked. "I heard Goliath mention him. Are there more gargoyles?"

"Nope," Brooklyn explained. "Talon's a mutate, and so are two others with him. They're from one of Sevarius' earliest attempts to make gargoyles. He mixed humans up with bats, cats and electric eels, so don't get upset when you see them."

"Listen," Alan retorted, the sarcasm so thick you could caulk a shower with it, "have you seen it out there? You know, all those orcs and elves and whatnot running around? I doubt a few cross-breeds are going to horrify me that easily."

"I would advise you," Goliath suddenly said, "to keep a civil tongue in your head when you meet them. That is, if you _have_ any manners to mind."

"What's that supposed-" Alan began, but Miki held his arm tight, looking at him fiercely.

"_Don't push your luck, Alan,"_ she said in his mind. Alan looked between her and Goliath. Both of them had identical expressions of disapproval on their faces. Brooklyn just looked up the tunnel, apparently deciding to stay out of this tangle.

"Never mind," Alan said, lowering his voice. "Let's just get going."

Goliath led the group the rest of the way through the tunnels. He was now worried that their arguments would bring the Infected down on their heads, but it seemed pointless to berate the upstart of a changeling he was forced to bring along. After a short time the group reached a large iron door, sealing the tunnel. As Goliath approached the door and knocked hard on it, the sounds echoing off the walls, Alan noticed a security camera tucked in an upper corner pointing at them. Clearly the site had existed for a long time, as this seemed to predate any modern security measures. As far as he was concerned, however, sometimes the old methods were the best.

A few seconds after Goliath had knocked, the heavy door slid aside with a loud groaning noise, permitting entry for the group. They passed through, and the door slid shut behind them. Where Alan had expected to see more tunnels, instead he found himself looking around a large underground courtyard, bordered on all sides by three floors of chambers. Electric lamps hung from the ceiling, while washing-lines criss-crossed overhead. Running to and fro were various people in uniformly shabby states of dress, gathering what must have been their belongings.

"Welcome to the Labyrinth," Brooklyn said. Both Alan and Miki were lost for words; it was hard to believe that such a place existed under the noses of some of the richest and most powerful people in America. Then, upon walking into the middle of the courtyard, Miki gasped as three large figures approached them. They looked like large bipedal cats; they more specifically resembled a black panther, a tiger and a lioness. All three of them also had large bat-wings growing out of their backs. Alan could see why Miki was shocked, though he himself remained quiet; these had to be the mutates, and it made Alan's blood boil to see that some things had not changed much in all these long years. It had been one thing to be magically mutated like the elves, orcs and so on, but it sickened him that men could still do this to one-another.

The panther mutate approached Goliath and the pair shook hands. The other two just hung back and nodded politely.

"Welcome, Goliath," the mutate said, smiling. "Brooklyn," he added, nodding in Brooklyn's direction, receiving a quick nod in reply.

"Talon," Goliath said, looking around him at the running figures. "I assume you have heard of the incidents on the surface?"

"Couldn't miss it," Talon replied. "Word on the trideo has been going crazy for the past half-hour. The defences here probably won't hold, if these reports are accurate. We're getting ready to leave should we need to. There has to be a way through Xanatos' quarantine."

"No, that's too dangerous," Goliath said forcibly. "Xanatos will have anticipated every possible way to leave the island." He looked away for a moment, his expression awkward. "As much as I do not wish to say this, the Xanatos building is very likely to be the safest place to take your people. It is the most heavily-fortified building on the island, and Xanatos' security forces are highly trained. We have no choice but to hold the building for as long as we can."

"You must be joking!" Talon yelled, while the other mutates looked appalled. "Have you forgotten who it was that hired Sevarius to do this to me and the others?! You expect me to accept aid from that slimy bastard?! I really hope this wasn't Elisa's idea..." He turned his back away from Goliath, folding his arms.

"Even if it was," Goliath responded rather heatedly, "has she ever given you any reason to doubt her? I thought you of all people would know her better than anyone else. Are you not willing to trust the judgement of your own sister?" All was silent for a few moments, then Talon turned back to look at Goliath, looking sour. Clearly Goliath had touched a sore spot.

"That wasn't called for," Talon rumbled. In the end, he sighed and shook his head. "This doesn't change anything between me and Xanatos."

"It does not have to," Goliath said, reassuringly. "All you should concern yourself with is saving as many people as you can."

"Alright," Talon said. "Well, the plan was for each of us," he continued, as he indicated himself and the other mutates, "to take a group and follow one of the back tunnels to a drainage junction about a mile from here. It has an access to the surface that leads close to the old South Street Seaport. We can't get any nearer to the Xanatos building than that without going above ground."

"Guess that makes us the rear guard," Brooklyn said.

"It would help a lot if each of you went with our groups," Talon said. He looked at Alan and Miki, puzzled. "Who are your friends, anyway?"

"They are no friends of mine," Goliath rumbled. "With any luck they will no longer be our concern when this affair is resolved."

Talon stood looking at the pair for a moment, and then his eyes fell on Alan's mutated arm. "You had a run-in with Sevarius too?" he asked.

"What?" Alan asked, then he saw where Talon was looking. "Oh, that. No, that had nothing to do with him."

Talon just shrugged, and turned to his companions.

"We'd better start moving," he said, turning to the tiger mutate. "Claw, you fetch your group and go first. We'll follow as quickly as we can."

Claw just nodded, and began to leave.

"I'd better go with him," Brooklyn said. "He'll want someone he knows helping him out." With that, he moved after Claw.

"Talon," the lioness said, in a concerned tone, "are you sure you know what you're doing about Fang? I know what he did, but I feel awful about leaving him here." Talon turned to her, putting his arm around her.

"Maggie," he said, "nothing's gonna get through to him. That barrier we set up is impenetrable, and Thug's got the only means of opening it. Trust me; he ain't going anywhere. I'm just sorry we don't have the resources to extend the barrier's radius and cover the whole Labyrinth."

"_Whoever this 'Fang' is,"_ Miki then said in Alan's mind, "_Talon's thinking that, even if this barrier does break down, Fang would deserve everything he gets. He's obviously not very popular."_

Maggie looked unsure, but eventually nodded and turned to leave. "I'll get my group ready," she said quietly.

"Lock," Alan said to Miki, referring to her by a shorter version of her code-name, "go with her." Miki looked puzzled at Alan, but in the end went after Maggie. Goliath looked at the two of them, regarding them carefully.

"_Wouldn't have thought you'd want to stick by Goliath,"_ Miki said in Alan's mind.

"_He said himself he didn't want me out of his sight,"_ Alan replied, with a dark chuckle. "_He's about to learn the saying 'Be careful what you wish for'."_

Miki looked at Alan stonily, before moving off again. Goliath watched her distrustfully as she caught up to Maggie and the two wandered towards a group of dishevelled people carrying various belongings. Alan noticed this, and looked rather annoyed.

"Hey," he said, "she's not going to do anything untoward, you know." Goliath turned to look at him, his arms folded.

"While I would not put it past any of your kind," the gargoyle snarled, "it is you that I am most concerned about. Stay close and do not try anything rash."

"I don't need you to tell me how to fight," Alan muttered. He was getting increasingly fed-up with Goliath's disdain towards him. Talon looked between the two, his eyes narrowed.

"Did I miss something?" he asked. "Just who is this guy, Goliath?"

Goliath was silent for a moment, before shaking his head. "I will tell you about it later. Right now, we have more pressing concerns."

All of a sudden there was a loud banging noise on the great iron door. Several people turned in shock towards the door. As Alan watched, there was another loud bang, and he noticed a dent suddenly appear in the metal.

"Obviously," Talon said, his eyes wide. An old man dressed in filthy beggar's clothing dashed up to him.

"Looks like our monsters are here, Boss-cat," the old man said. "That door won't hold forever, but it should buy us some time."

"Got it, Al," Talon replied. "Get goin' with Maggie's group."

Al nodded and dashed down one of the tunnels. Talon, Goliath and Alan moved towards another group of dishevelled homeless waiting by another tunnel. As Alan looked back towards the door with his gun drawn, Goliath approached Talon.

"What of Delilah?" he asked, his face looking almost embarrassed.

"She took the clones on ahead," Talon said. "She's still pretty mad at you, after that stunt you pulled on Halloween," he finished, in a disapproving tone.

"Sounds like someone's in the dog-house," Alan said, his mouth twisted into a crooked sneer. Goliath looked like he was about to lash out at him, when a sudden loud crash was heard, and the door buckled further than ever. Goliath seemed to get a grip on himself, though he still gave Alan a scornful look.

"I will deal with you later," he snarled, before turning back to Talon. "Right now, we should get everyone away from this place."

"Agreed," Talon nodded, before turning to the assembled crowd of about fifteen people, some of them children. "Alright, listen up!" he called. "I'll lead us through the tunnel, Goliath will bring up the rear! Everyone stay close; don't go wandering off down any side-tunnels! Sorry we didn't have more time to pack, but we've gotta go now! Follow me!"

With that, Talon began to lead the way down the tunnels. As everyone passed him into the tunnel itself, he turned to hit a switch on a panel as Goliath began leading people further down the tunnels. A slatted metal doorway began to descend, but before it could reach the ground there was a loud whirring sound, and the door stuck fast.

"Oh, fuck!" Talon exclaimed as he switched the motor off.

"I should have put a bet on this happening," Alan muttered, as he had hung back away from the group. As he spoke, there was a loud crash on the other side of the door, and the horrible sound of rattling breath.

"Agreed," Talon muttered, in a low voice. "We're gonna have to move fast." The two of them caught up to the rest of the group, with Talon taking up the lead position while Goliath and Alan lagged slightly behind. They watched every side-tunnel and possible hiding place where the infected could jump out at them. The tunnel was poorly-lit, with only a few electric lamps providing any kind of illumination. Though Alan tried to remain calm, if he was being honest with himself he had never felt so nervous in his life. Chasing Godzilla back in the twentieth century now seemed like child's play compared to dealing with a horde of ravenous killers.

It was as the group were some way down the tunnel when they heard a strange shuffling noise coming from one of the tunnels behind them. As Alan and Goliath turned to check the source of the noise, it began to grow louder and louder. All of a sudden what looked like a moving carpet rounded the corner of the tunnel. Several people who had turned around to investigate the source of the noise screamed and pinned themselves to the walls. Alan and Goliath did the same, and soon the whole group had moved out of the way of the living mass writhing along the tunnel. This was a pack of devil rats; hairless pests, each as large as a small dog, that were a constant problem in the urban areas of the Awakened world.

"Fuck this!" Alan breathed, his nerves already frayed by the possibility of being ambushed. After about half a minute, the pack of rats thinned out and eventually faded, dashing further down the tunnel. The sounds of their shuffling feet, however, were already beginning to be drowned out by a new noise, like the sound of several running feet, and a strange clicking noise. Goliath looked back down the tunnel, and his eyes narrowed when he realised what was going on.

"Those creatures were running from the infected..." he breathed. At once frightened whisperings broke out among the refugees. Talon tried to calm them down.

"They're still some distance away," he said. "The echoes can be a bit misleading. We just need to speed things up a little. Come on!"

The group still seemed extremely nervous, but they continued along the tunnel as calmly as their nerves would allow. Clearly they trusted Talon's judgement greatly to have not descended into total panic at this point. The group continued to make their way along the tunnel, moving as quickly as they could without making a noise and hardly daring to breathe.

As the group passed a large grating covering a tunnel to their left, the clacking noise they had heard earlier grew suddenly louder. Before Alan could even turn to look, there was a loud crash as the grate was suddenly flung forcibly from the wall, crashing into the opposite wall of the tunnel. Alan, Goliath and several other survivors were bowled over by the impact, and a large shape stepped into the tunnel, emitting a horrible rattling shriek.

As several people screamed, Alan turned to look at what had done that, and immediately wished that he had not. Standing over them was one of the 'Warrior' creatures that Sevarius had mentioned in his reports. It was exactly as the video had shown them to be, but now seeing one of them up-close revealed that they were enormous. A huge, hulking creature, larger than a bear, the Warrior immediately advanced upon three refugees – two men, one woman – who had been knocked down in the attack. All three could only watch helplessly, paralysed with fear. Alan tried to lift himself to help, but the arm holding his gun was trapped under a piece of rubble. He looked across at Goliath, who had been hit the hardest and seemed to have been knocked out cold.

Even as Alan tried to use his free arm to reach for his whip, he knew he would never be able to ready himself in time. Luckily the creature didn't spot him, but he was forced to watch, helpless, as it advanced on the cowering refugees. All at once it reared, and then suddenly what looked like a jet of steam began to spurt out of its mouth with a loud hissing sound. It sprayed this steam over the three humans, where it lingered like mist. Alan noticed that the mist had a strange purple tint to it, but the colour was the least of his concerns.

As he watched, the humans tried to crawl away from the mist, but now were clutching their throats, their faces contorted with agony. They were trying to shout, but only a horrible gagging noise emerged, then nothing at all. Finally, they collapsed, their faces forever stretched into a mask of absolute, unfathomable pain. Even before their bodies hit the floor they began to dissolve, the skin and flesh melting away, until only the skeletons remained, stripped clean of all meat.

Alan felt as if every muscle in his body had turned to ice. He knew where he had seen those terrible effects before. It did not make any sense to him, for such a thing was not supposed to exist anymore. For a moment he was paralysed by shock, but the screams of the other refugees as the Warrior advanced on them brought him back to his senses. People clawed their way down the tunnel, panicked and desperate to escape from this creature which possessed no remorse or pity, as it once again prepared to spread the deadly mist.

With a great deal of effort, Alan wrenched his arm free from the rubble, and lashed out with the whip. He managed to wrap the line around the creature's neck and pulled hard. He wasn't sure what good it would do; all he knew was that he had to keep the creature away from those people. The Warrior reared, shrieking, though Alan knew that it was probably strong enough to throw him across the tunnel. Regardless, he hung onto the whip for dear life, every muscle in his arms aching.

All of a sudden there was a brilliant flash of light and a noise like a thunderclap, almost blinding and deafening Alan. The Warrior shrieked in agony as bolts of lightning crackled all over its carapace, then it collapsed to the floor. Looking beyond it, Alan could see that Talon was now standing on this side of the crowd, his fists now crackling with lightning. He could now see where the 'electric eel' part of the mutation had come into play.

"Is it dead?" Goliath then said from behind, having regained consciousness and staggered to his feet. Looking at the smoking creature, Alan could see it twitching and stirring.

"Definitely not," he said. "We've gotta get out of here, fast!"

As he said this, the sounds of approaching footsteps grew louder than ever, and Alan could now see the outlines of many drones further down the tunnel. Some of them were emitting loud unearthly wails, and the phrase "The Enemy" was being repeated by them over and over.

"There are so many..." Goliath breathed, as if he hardly dared to believe it. The few refugees who had not immediately run further on ahead were now doing so. Talon dashed on after them, with both Alan and Goliath in hot pursuit. Goliath was running on all fours like a cat and eventually overtook Alan. Fortunately the tunnel was linear, with no further junctions, and gradually the sounds of wailing began to fade. For a moment, Alan thought they were going to outrun the hordes and reach the exit, a thought that was further reinforced as the tunnel began to brighten.

All of a sudden there was a loud shrieking sound and the familiar clacking noise now sounding again. Turning to look behind him, Alan saw that the Warrior was back on its feet, and was now dashing down the tunnel after them. It was moving at an incredible speed; before Alan even had time to think, it was almost upon him. He drew his gun and tried to fire behind him, but the shots went wild, missing the mark completely.

Upon hearing the shots, Goliath halted and turned to look back down the tunnel. He saw that Alan was not watching where he was going; the mutant stumbled and fell to the floor of the tunnel. The Warrior was now right behind him, and preparing to strike. Goliath knew that Alan would not be able to defend himself in time, though for a moment he considered leaving the mutant to his fate. His morals got the better of him, however, and he felt ashamed that he had even considered the notion; though they did not see eye-to-eye, this metahuman was still currently under his care. In any case, the longer the mercenary stayed alive, the more chance he had of getting some answers from Xanatos.

Releasing a loud battle cry, his eyes shining like flashlights, Goliath charged straight at the Warrior. Alan ducked low to the ground as the gargoyle jumped straight over him, colliding with the monster and sending it sprawling to the floor. Alan tried to stagger to his feet, watching Goliath engage the creature. Strangely it did not use the deadly mist on him, but instead tried to pin Goliath to the ground with the large crab-like legs. The gargoyle was not so easily restrained, however, landing vicious punches to the creature.

Goliath had intended to stall it and buy Alan enough time to recover. However, the mob of drones had now caught up to them, running at terrific speed. Alan knew that they would get swarmed if they stayed, and sure enough Goliath soon found himself having to fend off a horde of about twenty drones.

"Goliath!" Talon shouted from the other end of the tunnel. He was stood there, apparently torn about coming to help. Alan, however, felt that someone had to stay with the surviving refugees, and he motioned for Talon to get back.

"Go!" he called. Then, drawing his gun, he charged back towards the mob. The Warrior had fallen, unconscious, while the drones were clawing and pushing against each other to get at Goliath, who was now struggling to hold them off. One or two of them got past him and charged at Alan, but the shadowrunner gunned them down. Within seconds he had reached Goliath, and with a huge effort he managed to clear some of the drones away and pull Goliath free.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Alan muttered furiously. "You stupid bastard..."

The gargoyle was very heavy and was ailing fast, and Alan struggled to keep him upright as they half-ran, half-stumbled the rest of the way. He fired shots behind him as the remaining drones tried to get their escaping quarry, and Alan could hear the horrible retching sounds made by those he had shot, now undoubtedly undergoing the premature metamorphosis that Sevarius had mentioned. Goliath seemed to become heavier as they ran, but they made it to the drainage junction. Running inside, Talon slammed a heavy iron door shut behind them, just as the drones and newborn Warriors slammed against it.

Audible shouts could be heard all around him, as the large crowd of refugees stood, nervous and shivering in the drainage junction, full of countless pipes and tunnels leading in all directions. There was also a ramp leading up to a large grating, through which lights from the city above could be made out. Alan counted that about thirty people were here, as well as Talon, Brooklyn and Claw. Hearing a commotion from the other side of the vast chamber, Alan dashed over to see Maggie and Miki holding off more drones. Miki was using a shield spell and several clout spells to push them back into the tunnel, then Maggie slammed the door shut.

"Lock!" Alan shouted. Miki turned to face him, looking relieved.

"Ryuu!" she called. "Only a few of them came after us, but we still lost two people." She turned away for a moment. Maggie looked apologetic as they headed back to the others.

"That's one more than we managed to save," Alan said solemnly. "What about Brooklyn's group?" He looked over at Claw, who held up five fingers with a sorrowful expression.

"It's weird," Brooklyn said. "We had fewer than we thought chasing us. No more than ten, if I had to guess."

"What?" Alan exclaimed. "We must have had twice that!" It was then that a thought occurred to him. "Did you guys hear them shout something like 'the Enemy'?"

Miki and Maggie shook their heads, as did Brooklyn. Claw just shrugged. A strange thought crossed Alan's mind. The drones had shouted the same thing when Alan had escaped from Sevarius' lab. It was not possible for this to be a coincidence, and yet the notion that he was thinking sounded too absurd to contemplate. All at once, he was distracted by the sound of a loud roar.

"Goliath!" Talon could be heard shouting. "What is it?!"

Alan ran over to where he had left Goliath. The gargoyle's face was contorted in pain; his teeth were gritted and he was seething. He was holding his arms close to his chest, and was shivering uncontrollably. Alan knelt beside him to try and get a better look, but he was almost knocked away when Goliath jerked suddenly, roaring in agony. In the end, Alan was able to see Goliath's shoulder, and he learned what had happened.

"Oh, God..." he muttered.

There was blood on Goliath's shoulder, and deep teeth marks embedded into it.


	7. A Change to the Timetable

**A Change to the Timetable**

"Ryuu...." Miki said faintly, walking up beside Alan and seeing Goliath's injury. Upon seeing what had happened to him, her face turned pale. "What... what do we do now?"

Alan paused for a moment. He had half-expected this to happen, after what Goliath had done in the tunnels, and yet the gargoyle seemed to be struggling against the parasite's invasion with every ounce of strength that he could muster. In the end, however, he shook his head, and moved to pull his gun out of the holster.

"_I have to be realistic, Miki,"_ Alan projected. _"We have to finish him before he becomes one of those things. It's like the Invae all over again."_ He drew his gun and pulled the hammer back, aiming at Goliath's forehead. He only had one bullet left in the chamber, but one shot would be all that he would need.

All of a sudden, something slapped his arm from below just as he fired, causing the shot to go wild. Looking to his right, anger spreading across his face, he saw Brooklyn was the one who had interrupted, his own expression looking very stern.

"You know I can't let you kill him," the gargoyle said forcibly. By now Alan was getting incredibly frustrated, and it took all of his self-restraint to stop himself attacking Brooklyn.

"I don't know if Goliath told you," Alan said, through gritted teeth, "but once you're bitten by one of those things you're a goner. You really want your leader going berserk and killing us all?!"

"There has to be another way!" Brooklyn replied. "There has to be a cure for whatever this is. He's fighting it right now, and you're just going to kill him?!"

"Yes!" Alan said, incredulously. "If it means we all stay alive, I'll do it in a heartbeat! We're just wasting time here!"

"Xanatos has to have a cure!" Brooklyn retorted, his eyes never leaving Alan's.

"What makes you so sure?!" Alan scoffed.

"Because you don't mess in his affairs for two years without getting some idea of how his mind works," Brooklyn replied coldly. "If he's behind all this, and I think we're all agreed that he is, he won't have allowed things to get to this point if he thought his life was on the line. He might have been working on a way to fight this thing without Sevarius knowing about it. He's no humanitarian; he would have done so to save his own neck."

"Assuming any of that's true," Alan spat, "we still have to get him all the way back to the tower. Are you bloody mad?! The chances of him being cured are a million to one!"

"Then there's still a chance," Brooklyn replied coolly, his arms folded.

Alan looked between the two gargoyles, feeling more hopeless. It was true that Goliath had hung on for an incredible amount of time; almost five minutes had passed since he had been bitten, and yet he showed no outward signs of becoming a drone just yet. He also thought that there was a lot of sense in Brooklyn's words, because Alan had the feeling that Xanatos taking that sort of action was the sort of thing Kiryuu would have done. A loud banging noise suddenly resounded through the chamber, and one of the metal doors buckled. Talon approached Brooklyn.

"Whatever you're doing with Goliath," he said in a commanding tone, "we still need to get these people outta here!" With that, he joined Claw and Maggie in guiding the refugees up to the surface. As Alan, Brooklyn and Miki made to follow, with Alan helping the trembling Goliath to his feet, the mutant looked sternly at Brooklyn.

"You guys are going to get us all killed," he muttered.

***

The night air smelled sweet to Alan after the dank sewers as he stepped out into the open air with Goliath in tow. As Alan looked around, most of the once-grand seaport had now fallen into disrepair, due to be developed over, as few of the corporations had their cargo transported by sea these days. Looking towards the north-west, he saw the bright lights from the Xanatos building. Even from this distance the city sounded like it had descended into complete chaos, with the cries of the infected filling the night air.

"Listen to me," Talon said, approaching Alan. "We can get Goliath to the Xanatos building quickly. Claw and I should make it if we both carry him." Goliath trembled and cried out in pain once again.

"God help us if Brooklyn's wrong, though," Alan said, as he helped Goliath over to Talon. Both he and Claw began to carry Goliath over to one of the nearby buildings, the refugees parting to let them pass. All of them looked extremely worried, and Alan could not blame them. Talon then addressed Maggie as they passed her.

"You comin' with us, Maggie?" he asked, in a much softer tone. "You shouldn't be stressing yourself like this as it is, not in your condition..."

"I'll be fine, Talon," Maggie said, reassuringly. "I don't want to leave these people until I know that they're safe. You go save Goliath."

She placed a hand tenderly on Talon's cheek, and the two gazed longingly at each other for a few seconds. Talon then nodded, and he and Claw carried Goliath to one of the nearby buildings. Through a great deal of effort, they managed to get Goliath to the roof by climbing up the outside wall, digging their claws into the bricks. Goliath himself made some effort, but he seemed to be getting weaker by the minute.

At last, the two mutates took off from the roof, carrying Goliath between them. Alan saw their outlines gliding towards the Xanatos building.

"Now what?" Miki said. "We can't get everyone to the building that way. There isn't enough time."

Even as she said this, the bangings and crashings from the drainage junction grew louder. Alan looked desperately around him, but there were no vehicles to be seen. The tower seemed farther away, and Alan knew that there were several blocks to get past before they reached it.

"We'll have to take our chances, I suppose," he said. As he said this, he heard a loud crash from the direction of the underground passage. If the infected had not already broken the doors down, they were getting close.

"Like right bloody now!" Alan exclaimed. However, there was a loud, deep horn sound, along with the sound of roaring engines amidst the din caused by the infected. Looking down the road, Alan saw two pairs of headlamps approaching fast. Urging everyone to the pavement, he stood back and now saw that the headlamps belonged to a pair of city buses, both of which screeched to a halt beside the group. At the wheel of one bus was Elisa, while the other was driven by Matt.

"Need a lift?" Elisa said, smiling slightly as she stepped out onto the road.

"Wouldn't say no!" Maggie exclaimed. She then turned to the refugees. "Half in one bus, half in the other! Quickly!" she ordered.

The refugees were only too happy to obey, as the group divided itself and they made their way to the waiting transports. Brooklyn and Maggie got on board Matt's bus, while Alan and Miki went with Elisa. As Alan looked back down where the buses came from, he saw a large crowd of infected had been pursuing the buses with incredible speed, with several Warriors among them. As Alan scrambled aboard with wide eyes, Elisa slammed hard on the accelerator.

"Hold on!" she shouted, as the bus lurched forward, speeding away from the monstrous horde. Matt's bus soon drew alongside them in a nearby lane.

"How the hell did you find us?" Alan asked incredulously.

"You can thank Lex for that," Elisa said. "He managed to hack your commlink. He has GPS software, and he was able to pinpoint your location using that." Upon noticing Alan's angry expression, she quickly added, "He swears that he hasn't touched anything in there, and he hasn't done any snooping in whatever files you have."

"I still ought to wring his bloody neck," Alan muttered. "Where is he?"

"He's with Broadway and Angela," Elisa explained. "They're working to move as many people as they can to the Xanatos building." She then looked at Alan with a worried expression. "Where's Goliath?"

"Hopefully at the tower now," Alan said. "Provided Xanatos hasn't shot him down."

Elisa was about to ask Alan to elaborate, when there was a sudden dull thud, coming from the roof of the bus. Several indentations had also appeared in the metal. Suddenly the metal splintered, and a large scythe-like claw from a Warrior poked through the hole.

"Get down!" Miki shouted, and the refugees dived for cover. The scythe swung dangerously, widening the hole, and Alan was very nearly struck by it. He pulled the handle of his whip out of its holster and twisted it, opening a hole in the bottom. He then reached for one of the pouches attached to his belt, and pulled from it a small red crystal. He proceeded to slot this into the whip's handle, and then twisted it again, closing the hole. As he was doing this, the hole in the ceiling was widened, and several people screamed as the Warrior's head suddenly burst through it. It inhaled with a deep, rattling breath, preparing to use its breath weapon.

The head suddenly recoiled, shrieking, as if struck by an invisible fist. Miki had used a strong clout spell, and quickly followed it up with another. The creature cried out, and then the head quickly retreated back up through the hole. Snatching the opportunity, Alan suddenly ran to the hole and pulled himself up through the hole.

"Ryuu!" Miki shouted. In her panic she had almost blurted out Alan's real name, and could not believe that he was being so reckless.

The bus moved about erratically, as if Elisa was trying to throw the monster off. On the roof, Alan hung on for dear life as he let the line of the whip fall free. In front of him was the Warrior, having a much easier time of hanging on, somehow hooking itself into the metal. Glancing over at the other bus, Alan saw that another Warrior was on top of it, trying to get at the passengers, while Brooklyn had opened the side door in an attempt to climb out and face his opponent.

As Alan turned to face the Warrior again, the crab-like monster suddenly lunged at him. Alan retaliated by lashing out with the whip. As the line cut through the air, flames could be seen dancing on its surface and suddenly shooting out at the Warrior in waves. His whip had been modified to incorporate Technomantic upgrades. By inserting different crystals into the handle, Alan could imbue it with various magical properties. The crystal he had inserted allowed bursts of flame to shoot out of the whip when it was quickly moved through the air, and Alan had thought that might help against the infected.

However, the Warrior seemed unaffected by the fire, lumbering straight through the waves of flame as it moved to reach Alan. The shadowrunner gritted his teeth and lashed out with the whip again, striking the Warrior itself. The nanowire was strong enough to cut through flesh, and Alan could not help feeling glad when he saw that the armoured carapace of this creature was cut open. The Warrior backed away, howling in pain. As Alan watched though, the wound instantly began to heal, closing up before Alan's eyes.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding..." he muttered, as the wound closed up. Out of desperation, Alan charged straight at the creature and lashed with the whip before it could fully recover. Again, he managed to cut it, but as he raised the whip to strike a third time the Warrior caught him off-guard, striking him with one of the scythe-like blades. Alan was knocked down, and at that moment the bus suddenly veered around a corner, sending Alan rolling to the side. Fortunately he managed to catch a guard-rail on the side of the bus before he fell to the street.

With one hand he clung desperately onto the rail, his other hand still clenched tightly on the whip handle. As the wind whipped past him and threatened to knock him off, the Warrior appeared above him, peering down at him with the pitiless red eyes. It raised its bladed claw to full height, preparing to attack.

However, the claw was deflected as it swung downwards, as if it had hit some kind of invisible wall. Looking to his side, Alan could see Miki leaning out of one of the windows, a look of concentration on her face. She had placed a barrier spell between Alan and the Warrior, and as the creature tried to push against the barrier to no avail bright sparks flew everywhere. Thanks to this, Alan was able to pull himself back onto the bus.

He was now in a thoroughly foul temper, and as he heard Miki's barrier break he lashed out at the Warrior again, striking it with the whip and forcing it back towards the back edge of the bus. The Warrior tried to swipe at him again, but this time Alan was ready, ducking under the claws as they slashed the air above him. Finally, with one last crack of the whip, the Warrior stumbled, losing its grip on the bus, before finally toppling off and crashing onto the road below. Though it was not dead, at least the tower was drawing closer and this bus would be safe.

The other bus was saved too, for Brooklyn had managed to fight off the other Warrior and send it onto the road. Alan shot a thumbs-up signal in his direction, letting him know that he was fine. Brooklyn returned the gesture, and both scrambled back into their respective buses. When Alan climbed back inside, he collapsed onto a vacant chair, exhausted and breathing hard. Miki went over to him, looking both disapproving and impressed.

"Remind me never to do that again," Alan groaned, as the bus approached the Xanatos building.

***

At the foot of the Xanatos building was a scene of pure pandemonium. Xanatos' surviving security forces were doing everything that they could to keep the marauding infected at bay, including using what looked like force-field generators. By this time, hundreds upon hundreds of people had been infected, and all of them were congregating on the Xanatos building. Drones and Warriors alike were flooding the streets, pounding on the barriers and force-fields, releasing their unearthly wails into the air.

As the buses stopped outside the Xanatos building and the survivors stepped out of the vehicles, the infected became even more agitated, clawing at the barriers like crazy, a lot of them shouting "The Enemy" again and again. Alan knew that against such a huge swarm the barriers would not hold forever; even Technomancy wasn't fool-proof. The most powerful Technomancers, who could potentially end the fight in minutes, were far away from Manhattan, and were not coming to help any time soon.

Alan could not help feeling slightly hopeless as he, Miki, and the rest of the survivors walked through the cavernous foyer. None of the guards tried to stop them as they walked towards the large elevators and rode them up to the castle. Alan assumed that Talon had informed Xanatos that they were on their way. When they had arrived at their floor, the guards ushered the refugees towards the cavernous atrium, while the shadowrunners, the cops, Brooklyn and Maggie headed towards the dining hall, where they found the other gargoyles and mutates waiting for them. Talon's expression brightened as Maggie entered, and the two embraced. Alan, meanwhile, looked at Lexington with a sour expression, tapping his commlink. Lexington could only smile nervously in reply.

"So what happened to you guys?" Elisa asked Broadway, as she and Matt took seats at the long dining table. Matt, meanwhile, began addressing his commlink, requesting updates from the various police forces in the city.

"We saved as many as we could," Broadway drawled, sporting a few bruises but otherwise unharmed. "They're all in the atrium now." He turned to the others, his eyes widening. "What the hell are those things though? They were spittin' out this gunk that turns people's skin into mush! We almost got caught by it!"

"So did we," Talon chimed in. "Things like those creatures can't exist, and I've seen some strange things in this day and age!"

"I'm worried about Goliath," Angela said, her expression worried. "He was in a terrible state when Talon and Claw brought him here.

"Talking of which," Alan said. "Where is Goliath anyway?"

"He was taken into one of the elevators," Hudson said. "I don't know where they stopped though, and Xanatos won't say anything about how he is."

"Is that so?" Alan said dubiously. "Well, maybe I can pry a few words out of him," he continued, getting to his feet.

"Hold it," Brooklyn suddenly said, grabbing Alan's arm. "There's still something I don't get."

"We don't have time for this!" Alan said forcibly, turning to glare at Brooklyn. The gargoyle just gazed back intently, his eyes narrowed.

"Those things out there," Brooklyn hissed, "really don't like you. More of them came after you in the sewers than they did for us, and just now outside they started shouting 'the Enemy' at you, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean."

"That's right!" Matt chimed in. "I've just remembered! They said the same thing when we were coming out of that lab!"

"Well, I don't believe in coincidences," Brooklyn snarled. "Somehow you're connected to those things. Care to enlighten us, bucko?"

For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence. Brooklyn had just said what Alan had been thinking, and to be confronted with the fact was now making Alan feel very uncomfortable.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Alan said, indignantly. "Frankly I don't have a sodding clue why those things want me!"

At this Elisa turned back to the door, as if she had spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, someone here might know," she said. She stood up and walked straight out of the room.

"Hey, wait for me!" Alan called, moving after her. He had the strange feeling that he could guess what Elisa had just seen. Brooklyn just shook his head, turning to look at Miki with an exasperated expression.

"Jeez," he said. "That guy's all over the place. How are you able to work with him?"

"Sheer willpower," Miki sighed. "I've learned to live with it all."

In the corridor, Elisa and Alan walked quickly around the corner. They found themselves back near the elevators, and saw Xanatos standing in front of one of them, clearly waiting for it.

"Hold it right there, Xanatos!" Elisa called, running to his side. "You thought someone wouldn't see you eavesdropping?"

"My good lady," Xanatos replied, smiling, "you've all had a rather exciting night. I'd hate to be out of the loop, considering that I have much at stake in this enterprise also."

"I bet you do," Elisa muttered, dangerously. "Where's Goliath?"

"He is quite safe," Xanatos replied, "I assure you. We are treating his 'condition' now."

"That's not good enough for me, David!" Elisa half-shouted. "I'm part of his clan too! I need to see him and judge for myself if he's alright!"

"You're not the only one who wants answers," Alan growled. "I want no more bullshit, Xanatos. I want all the facts behind this infection, and I want them now!"

Xanatos just looked at them both for several seconds, looking highly amused about this whole sorry affair. If he was feeling any form of guilt over the situation that he had created, he certainly was not showing any signs of it.

"Dear oh dear me," he sighed, shaking his head. "If I didn't know better, I would say you didn't trust me."

Alan wanted to strike at Xanatos there and then, and it was taking every ounce of his resolve to stop himself from doing so. As the middle elevator arrived on the floor, Xanatos turned to the others once again.

"Still," he said, "since it looks increasingly likely that we shall all die soon anyway, I suppose there is no harm in sharing some things with you. Come with me."

With that, he stepped into the elevator, with both Alan and Elisa following him. As he did so, Alan carefully switched on the recording function on his commlink. He wanted to record everything Xanatos said, and anything of interest he saw while he was with the businessman.

He watched as Xanatos pulled a key out of his pocket, inserted it into a small keyhole just above the floor buttons, and turned it. Alan saw that the key had a symbol on it; it looked like a pyramid with an eye on top, and three lines streaking out of it in different directions. As Xanatos placed the key back in his pocket, the elevator moved quickly downwards. After several moments, Alan looked at the floor indicator, and saw that they were now well below the basement level. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Alan, the lift stopped.

The trio stepped out into a rather plain-looking corridor. It stretched for some distance to the right, and on the left was a door. In front of the elevators, Alan noticed that large panels were set into the wall. Xanatos, meanwhile, addressed Elisa.

"You will find our mutual acquaintance through the door to the left," he said. "There should be no-one there to stop you from going in; if there is, just mention that I sent you."

Elisa didn't take her eyes off Xanatos until she was several steps away. Then she moved to the door and opened it, passing through into the next room. Alan looked at Xanatos.

"You'd better not be lying about that," he snarled.

"You asked for no more secrets," Xanatos said, smiling. "I am merely giving you what you asked for. I do not wish to get a reputation among shadowrunners as a bad employer." He moved over to the large metal panels on the wall, and stood next to a control panel between two of them.

"So you really wish to know the entirety of the story behind our current predicament?" he asked. "I must warn you that you may not like what you will find out."

"I already told you that I bloody well do," Alan retorted. "Now stop wasting my time, as I'm proper sick of your bullshit."

"Very well then," Xanatos replied pleasantly. "I tried my best. Now don't say I didn't warn you. I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning..." As he trailed off, he pressed a button on the control console.

All at once the panels slowly slid back, and Alan realised that they were covering windows. He walked closer to them, looking out into a gigantic subterranean hangar. As Alan looked out into the hangar and saw what was in it he froze, his skin turned pale, and he very nearly screamed out loud.

"No..." he breathed, his eyes still wide. Xanatos also looked out of the window, looking completely indifferent to the horrifying sight that Alan was now looking at.

"_Alan!"_ Miki suddenly projected in Alan's mind. _"What the hell's going on?! Your mind suddenly started screaming. Damn well gave me a migraine too! What's happening?!"_

It took a few moments for Alan to get over his shock long enough to answer her.

"_It's him..."_ he projected. _"David Xanatos has King Ghidorah in his basement!"_


	8. The Answer to Infection

**The Answer to Infection**

For several moments, Alan was paralysed by his shock. He could not stop himself from staring into the hangar, where a gigantic skeleton lay, completely stripped of all the skin and flesh. The skeleton took the shape of an enormous dragon, with four heads attached to long necks. The skeleton showed that this creature was four-legged, with enormous wings.

Alan remembered vividly the last time that he had seen the creature alive. The great dragon known to him as King Ghidorah had launched an invasion in the year 2007, though this had not been the first time which he had attacked the Earth. He wanted to consume all of the mana, the life-force energy of the planet, into himself to expand his own powers, as he had done with countless other worlds. It was he who had sowed the seeds of the Awakening, which had begun to bring back the age of magic and leave the planet irreversibly scarred.

He had met his downfall at the hands of the bio-mechanical titan, Kiryuu Knight, though the victory had come at a price. The only way to defeat King Ghidorah had been to re-create the Oxygen Destroyer, a monstrous weapon created back in 1954. It was the only weapon that could have destroyed him, as it had done to Kiryuu himself, the first Godzilla. Alan had seen first-hand how the weapon had destroyed every trace of skin, muscle and organ that the dragon possessed. The shadowrunner could scarcely believe his eyes.

"How did..." he mouthed, struggling to say the question that had been burning through his mind out loud. "How did you find..."

"Now this is unusual," Xanatos said brightly. "I assume you too are familiar with the history of this early century, and what this creature is?"

"Yeah..." Alan breathed. "I read a lot," he quickly added. Xanatos paused for a moment, before continuing.

"My grandfather won the contract to dispose of the bones," he said. "We are all self-made men, Ryuu. Even back then, the Xanatos family held a great deal of influence, and he was paid a tidy sum for the task. However, in the end he kept them, and hid them far away from the Utah Foundation's reach, in order that he might study them. Some strange force has prevented the bones from succumbing to the ravages of time; perhaps that is simply a result of the creature's unique biology.

"Naturally, when I stepped up to take the mantle as the head of our little empire, I inherited the bones. However, when I studied them, I found something on them that my father and grandfather did not..." He paused for a moment, as if expecting Alan to ask what that something was. When he got no reply from Alan, he merely shrugged and turned back to the window.

"Cells from the weapon used to destroy this Monster Zero still lingered on the skeleton," he continued. "Naturally we studied these cells. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the nature of this weapon, capable of destroying oxygen molecules in the water! Can you imagine the amount of military contracts that such a weapon would have granted us? The weapon could even surpass nuclear weapons as a deterrent. The UCAS would have become virtually undefeatable, if it was powerful enough to topple such a mighty creature."

Alan felt a strong urge to be sick. The man who had invented this weapon, the Oxygen Destroyer, had killed himself to try and prevent the secrets of his discovery from falling into the hands of men like Xanatos. Now, apparently, all of the effort that had gone into hiding the existence of the weapon from the world had been in vain.

"Do you want to know the most interesting thing about those cells, Ryuu?" Xanatos asked. Alan didn't want to know, but he had the feeling that Xanatos was going to tell him anyway.

"Upon closer inspection," he went on, "we found that many of those cells were, in fact, microscopic creatures. The cells of the weapon, combined with the unique properties of the skeleton, had somehow created a new life-form! It was a scientific miracle, one which we knew we had to study to the best of our capabilities. We soon found ourselves with no end of samples because of this life-form's incredible reproduction rate. As you have no doubt discovered, we hired Dr. Sevarius to study these creatures further. I remember having dreams of finding a way of controlling these creatures, and breed them as bio-weapons. Sevarius' findings proved to be nothing short of extraordinary, and could certainly reinforce my belief in that line of enquiry."

There was a moment of silence, as Xanatos considered his next words. Alan did not say or act; the story so far was now drilling into his mind, and he feared that he was going to go mad from the sudden realisation that was dawning on him.

"That was when we hit a snag," Xanatos continued. "Sevarius stopped sending us reports, and I felt that he had to be investigated. I can't say what it was for certain that caused Sevarius to lose his mind, and the chances are that we may never find out. He will be either dead, infected or on the run by now. That's where you and your charming friend came into the picture, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you the rest by now."

There was a pause for a moment, as once again Xanatos seemed to be waiting for a reply. Alan had been thinking about everything that he had said, and everything else that had happened to this point. The conclusion that Alan had reached was that, somehow, some essence of King Ghidorah now existed in the parasites. It would explain much; how Sevarius had been manipulated by the "queen", and also why they seemed to have singled Alan out as a threat. Not only that, but he now realised that the mist these creatures were capable of generating was in fact the Oxygen Destroyer in an airborne form, with the exact same effects. The thought of King Ghidorah combined with a now-living version of the Oxygen Destroyer seemed too frightening to contemplate.

He remembered being told by both Kiryuu and others about the future that awaited them. They had warned that remnants of King Ghidorah would find a way to return. These beings were called Horrors, and they would raze the Earth, stealing souls in order to resurrect King Ghidorah himself. No way was known to make the dragon truly die, but the Horrors were not supposed to come for a long time yet. However, thanks to Xanatos' actions, they were coming far sooner than anyone could have anticipated, and with a much deadlier weapon at their disposal. If they managed to spread their parasite beyond the boundaries of Manhattan, it would only be a matter of time before their master was revived.

"All those people..." he muttered. It now occurred to him that nearly the entire population of Manhattan was now under King Ghidorah's thrall. So many lives had been lost. His patience was now wearing very thin.

"It is a great tragedy," Xanatos said, his voice only betraying the slightest hint of regret for what had happened. "Still, looking on the bright side, this was an excellent opportunity to gather combat data. There may still be some military applications for this parasite yet."

All of a sudden, all of the pent-up tension that Alan had felt during this conversation peaked. Something in Alan's mind snapped; he could not take any more of Xanatos' words.

"You stupid bastard!" he shouted loudly. He spun round and grabbed Xanatos' throat, slamming him into the wall near the elevator door. Xanatos winced slightly, but more than anything looked amused as Alan raised his claw, ready to gouge Xanatos' eyes out.

"You don't have any fucking clue what you've done here, do you?!" he shouted. "Do you?!"

"Hey!" Elisa suddenly shouted. She had emerged from the other room upon hearing the commotion, and was now watching the scene, looking shocked.

"Ryuu," Elisa said, "I don't blame you for wanting him dead, but don't do it!"

"Don't mind him, Ms. Maza," Xanatos said calmly. "He has just had a rather nasty shock. How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough," Elisa replied in a frosty tone, before turning back to Alan. "Listen to me. Xanatos has already destroyed so many lives. Don't let him destroy yours!"

For several tense moments, Alan stared deeply into Xanatos' eyes. Xanatos just stared back, apparently not bothered by his predicament. In the end, Alan knew that he had a better way of dealing with Xanatos. The recorder on his commlink had caught every moment of that terrible conversation. He released his grip, though his eyes never left Xanatos as the businessman shook himself and brushed himself down.

"What kind of a businessman would I be if I didn't have some form of clue as to what might happen?" Xanatos then said smugly. "While Sevarius was gallivanting off on his research, my own scientists continued their own, attempting to find a means of controlling the parasite. After all, what use is a weapon if you cannot control it? They discovered that the parasite, in its present form at least, is incredibly susceptible to extreme cold. From learning this, we were able to create a vaccine which would destroy the parasite. The threat of destruction is still often the best way to ensure compliance from intelligent creatures, after all. Perhaps if I had not sent the queen parasite to Sevarius for study the insanity that is taking place outside never would have happened. Unfortunately we have not had the time to mass-produce this vaccine. The only working sample we had is now in Goliath's body. It is fortunate that gargoyles have a more advanced immune system than our own, otherwise he would be among the ranks of all the infected long before now."

The words barely registered in Alan's brain, which currently was too clouded with anger and hatred to think of much else. Xanatos just raised his eyebrows.

"Don't I get a hug?" he asked. The sheer audacity of his tone made Alan want to strangle him there and then. He held himself in though, but his expression said more than words possibly could have about the sheer frustration that was coursing through his veins like poison.

"You can keep your money," he finally said, his voice barely louder than an animalistic growl. "I'm going to make sure you're crucified for this. You are not going to sleaze your way out of this one." With that, he turned and marched into the room Elisa had emerged from. Xanatos just watched him go, looking highly amused.

"Hmm," he said. "Some people are never satisfied. A pity, really. Now if you'll excuse me, I should go and see about the castle defences. I'm sure you can find the way out for yourselves." Then he walked straight into the elevator and rode it back up to the castle.

Elisa stood lost in thought. As tempted as she had been to let Xanatos die, she knew that she would much rather see him in prison. However, she also knew that the police had their work cut out in convicting Xanatos of his crimes. He was the sort who had been able to slip through seemingly every net they placed. Now she was feeling as frustrated as Alan had.

***

Alan stormed into a small medical room almost without realising it in the midst of his anger. Most of the walls were lined with drugs and various medical instruments, while the wall facing the hangar had a viewing port which looked out over the bones of King Ghidorah. In the centre of the chamber was a large slab, sitting on the edge of which was Goliath, now once again awake and no longer in pain. He looked over at Alan, seeing that the mutant was now in a great deal of distress. The conversation between Alan and Xanatos could be heard from inside this room, and for the first time Goliath could not help feeling sorry for Alan.

"I overheard everything," he said softly. Alan just turned to look at him with a harsh look.

"I really hate the phrase, 'I told you so'," he said bitterly, before turning to look back out of the window. All was silent for a moment before Goliath spoke again.

"Why did you come back for me?" he asked. Before Alan could cut in saying what a stupid question he thought it was, the gargoyle continued. "You could have left me to my fate and gone to help the others. Why risk yourself in this manner?"

"I could ask the same about you," Alan replied. "What were you doing, saving my neck, when you hate people like me?"

"I have no right to cast a judgement of death over any living being," Goliath replied solemnly. "It is not in my nature to abandon someone in their hour of need. Until that moment in the tunnel, I believed it was in your nature to discard that which you consider expendable."

Alan sighed. "If you shadowrun with me for a while," he said, "you'll quickly learn that no-one's expendable on my team. No-one deserves to die the same way all those people out there have." Once again, things went silent for a moment as Goliath carefully chose his words.

"I admire your courage in declaring yourself as an enemy of Xanatos openly," he said. "I believed that you cared not about ethics or honour, but in how much you were paid. Perhaps I misjudged you."

Alan shook his head, looking disbelievingly at Goliath.

"If you hate Xanatos so much," he asked, "then why don't you leave?" Goliath closed his eyes and shook his head.

"This castle has been under the protection of my clan for many generations," he said. "I cannot abandon it so easily. Ever since he awoke us two years ago, the lives of myself and Xanatos have become heavily intertwined. We cannot treat each other with open hostility, for we owe too much to each other. After all, it is because of him that we were able to return here after the clock tower was destroyed. For as long as this abandonment of hostilities keeps my clan safe, I will have to honour the agreement. The most we can do is subvert his plans whenever it is possible."

"I see..." Alan muttered. "Well, I plan on doing some 'subverting' of my own," he continued, now more forceful and determined. "If you heard everything that went on in that corridor, then you'll know what I said. Xanatos isn't going to get away with what he's done here. Killing him's out of the question, of course, but I think I have enough info now to fuck him over good and proper." He gazed back out of the window, his claw clenched into a fist, with the sharp nails almost cutting into his palm.

"First and foremost though," he continued, "I've got to stop this parasite from getting beyond Manhattan. If it does, it'll sweep the country in days. In weeks the whole world could be infected, and then..." He paused, shaking himself. "I don't even want to think about it. All I know for certain is that thing has to be stopped here and now."

"Then we share a common goal," Goliath said, his voice authoritative. "If you also desire that the lives of the people of this island be saved, then the clan will be by your side to the very end."

"We all will, Goliath," Elisa chimed in. She had been leaning against the door-frame, watching the conversation with a smile on her face. "This is our fight."

Alan simply nodded, quietly. Neither of them knew the whole story behind what faced them, nor could they possibly understand just how much of a personal stake Alan held in this battle. However, he felt that he could not possibly express his gratitude in a satisfying way. As he stood there lost in thought, Goliath approached the window and looked at the skeleton with a thoughtful expression.

"It is strange..." he said. "The shape of the skeleton reminds me of the legends of the Hydra."

Alan looked over at Goliath, his eyes wider. "You know the stories?" he asked.

"Some of them, at least," Goliath replied. "I recall a traveller once came to Castle Wyvern, in a time before we were frozen. He stated that he was a chronicler, a purveyor of stories and legends from all over the world. I listened to the tales that he told, and most prominent among them were the stories of the Hydra, the great demon that had destroyed countless civilisations, including the great Atlantean city."

A sudden thought occurred to Alan. It seemed strange that someone would know so much about King Ghidorah back then. Very few of the beings who knew of his existence could possibly have been around back then, and one name was right on the top of Alan's list. If he ever survived this, he would have to find this person and ask them some questions. His train of thought was interrupted by Miki's voice, sounding over the intercom.

"Ryuu?" she called. "Ryuu, can you hear me?!"

It was Elisa who reached the intercom and replied.

"You're his partner, right?" she asked. "What's going on up there?"

"Elisa?" Miki stated. "You'd all better get back up here! Things are going from bad to worse!" Panicked shouting could be heard in the background, and Miki herself released a sudden gasp. All of a sudden, the connection died.

"Damnit!" Elisa exclaimed before turning to the others. "We'd better get up there!"

"I concur, Elisa," Goliath rumbled, following her to the elevator. Alan ran in with them, and soon the trio were heading back to the castle. Alan was frantic, afraid that something had happened to Miki.

"_I'm fine, Alan,"_ Miki's voice then said reassuringly. _"Almost got jumped by a drone, but I just got away. The civilians are sealed away, tight enough so the monsters can't get them, for now at least. We're retreating to the courtyard. Meet us there!"_

Alan nodded, and then reached into his belt-pouch again. Removing the red crystal from his whip handle and replacing it, he pulled out a white crystal instead and slotted it in. He also pulled out what looked like white bullets. On closer inspection, it looked like slight traces of steam were rising from them. He inserted the bullets into the chamber of his gun.

"What's all that for?" Elisa asked, noticing the strange armaments.

"Something that should give a bit of extra kick against those things," Alan replied, replacing his gun and pulling out the whip. He didn't want to waste the bullets if he could avoid it; his 'supplier' would not be very happy if he did.

As the elevator doors opened, a scene of pandemonium unfolded before them. The castle was now crawling with drones and Warriors alike, many of them attacking Xanatos' security force who were scattered everywhere. Both sides had taken heavy losses, but even as Alan watched the fallen parasites were beginning to rise again. The courtyard was only a short dash away, bordered by several blockades and magical barriers, not to mention the Destroyer creatures.

_Where's an Absolute Zero cannon when you need one?_ Alan thought. _I just hope that what I have here is enough._

All three reached a silent agreement that the only way to the courtyard was straight through the hordes. So the three of them ran for their lives, cutting down any infected that approached them. At his full strength, Goliath made short work of his attackers, sending them staggering back with powerful blows, while Elisa held other attackers off using her gun.

Alan, meanwhile, had a chance to test the new Technomantic modification. As he swung the whip, the air it cut through suddenly turned icy cold, and flakes of ice could be seen along the length of the metal. He was glad that his supplier had prepared him for any eventuality, and as he struck a Warrior he saw the struck chest area suddenly be covered in a sheet of ice. The creature shrieked in agony and staggered away, scratching at the frozen area.

Within a minute, the trio had reached the courtyard, where a final stand was being made by the castle defenders. All of the gargoyles and mutates fought fiercely, with Miki, Matt and the surviving members of Xanatos' forces providing support with bullets and magic. There were also five robots present, all built to resemble Goliath in appearance, though oddly one of them was painted red rather than silver. Alan, Goliath and Elisa joined the fray, but even as all fought within an inch of their lives, it was evident that they were starting to tire. Every infected person in the city was converged in this tower, all with the sole intent of killing or converting any and all resistance, and no matter how many were struck down or beaten back more of them came to replace them, some of the replacements being members of Xanatos' own forces who had become infected. As formidable a fighting force as the group was, Alan felt that it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. He was determined to go down fighting, however, and it seemed everyone else shared his view.

After several minutes of fighting, however, a noise suddenly tore through the night sky. It was a high, wailing cry, like the sound of a banshee. As the noise sounded, the infected suddenly froze, and then backed away from the puzzled fighters. The gargoyles, however, looked to the sky with worried expressions.

"Oh no..." Brooklyn muttered. "Not at a time like this..."

"What is it?" Alan asked. "What's going on?"

"That cry is all too familiar to us..." Angela replied, looking very worried. As Alan looked up to follow her gaze, he saw a dark shape swooping through the star-filled sky towards the castle. As it got closer, Alan recognised it as another gargoyle, and as it swooped down and landed in the courtyard in front of the group, Alan realised with a shock where he had seen the figure before.

Her picture was in the records that Sevarius had kept. It was the same gargoyle that bore such a striking resemblance to Angela, only with blue skin, a shock of flaming red hair and wearing what looked like a golden crown. The difference between the picture and the actual figure was that Alan could see several long, dark veins beneath her skin. She was looking at the group intensely; Alan was sure that her eyes would be shooting sparks if they could. All of the gargoyles present had similar looks of revulsion on their faces, but none looked more angry than Goliath did, his eyes shining as he roared at her.

"Demona!" he called, every muscle in his body tensed. Demona looked around at the assembled group, a look of the upmost contempt spreading across her face before she turned back to Goliath. All around them the drones and Warriors stood, shuddering with anticipation. Alan recalled that Demona was the one with the control parasite in her body; she had to be keeping them at bay, for the time being at least.

"Did you hear it?" she asked Goliath. Her voice sounded even more grand and refined than Angela's, but it was barely masking a tone of pure fury.

"So it _was_ you I heard whispering to me," Goliath snarled. "You spoke to me while the poison was coursing through my veins. I did not wish to believe it, but my senses did not lie." Alan looked awkward for a moment. He now wished that he and Lexington had said something about Demona's predicament earlier, but from the sounds of it she had earned the clan's enmity a long time ago, and a part of him doubted that they would have cared.

"You should have let yourself merge with my children," Demona said bitterly. "Look all around you, Goliath. They were all once divided; by race, by creed, and by wealth. Now all of them are united. There are no longer divisions or reasons for conflict. There is no reason for them to hate each other any longer!"

"In other words," Brooklyn spat, "they're all mindless. You never change, Demona."

"Why do none of you understand what I am trying to do?!" Demona hissed. "Why will none of you realise what I have been trying to do for the past two years?! I have seen the true face of humanity over all these long years, and they will never change! Even now, after the human race has divided, they still fight for domination over all they consider unworthy, squandering the gifts that this new age of magic has given them! The evidence is all around you; why do you not see it?!" She glared at them all, throwing a particularly nasty look at Elisa. "You have all allowed yourselves to be blinded! Do you honestly believe that the humans will ever truly accept us?! It is better that they be eliminated, and all risk removed!"

Goliath shook his head. "I pity you, Demona," he said coldly. "You still let yourself be consumed by bitterness and hatred. Is that why you have now allied yourselves with whatever creature spawned these demons?"

"He understands," Demona retorted. "His kind have also been ostracised by those who would seek to destroy him. He has given me the means to subdue the humans, force them into submission. With these gifts, I will bring about a new age, with our kind taking their rightful place, as the true guardians of this world!"

As Demona finished, however, Alan chuckled darkly. The sound surprised the rest of the group, and they became even more shocked as the chuckle grew in volume and became a loud roar of laughter. Demona glared at him, but Alan could not help himself; he now realised why Demona was so willingly going along with such an insane plan, if King Ghidorah was truly involved.

"That's what he told you, is it?" he said, still failing to stifle his laughter. "That is just beautiful. I guess he's a very smooth talker, is he? Bravo, King Ghidorah. Bravo." With that, he clapped slowly in mocking applause.

"What are you babbling about?" Demona spat. "He has told me about you, that you are one who would destroy us if you could! I will not allow that!"

"He still remembers me, does he?" Alan said, sounding highly amused. "Guess you weren't listening to the stories of the Hydra then. This is exactly how he works; he preys on your own desires, what you hate, and so on. He toys with them, twists people's minds, until they believe anything he tells them. Looks like he saw you as a ripe candidate to become a Liche."

"How do you know so much about those stories?" Goliath asked.

"That's neither here nor there," Alan replied. "All Demona here needs to know is that the Hydra – or should I say King Ghidorah - has played her like a harp. She's done exactly what he wants her to do." He turned back to Demona, now looking much more serious. "He doesn't give a shit about you or your precious gargoyles. Once you've done everything he needs you for, he'll kill you and every gargoyle you've been trying to save, as well as everything else on this planet! This world you say you've been trying to save is nothing but a three-course dinner for him, and you're just the dessert."

Now Demona looked shocked and disbelieving. "You lie!" she shouted.

"Do I really?" Alan retorted. "Why don't you ask him yourself? I assume he can hear you."

Demona shook her head, her eyes closed. "He has to be lying," she began muttering furiously, apparently to no-one in-particular. "Tell me it's not true..." Then her eyes suddenly widened, and for a moment a look of great anguish crossed her face as she continued muttering. "No... But you promised me..."

Her words became inaudible to Alan, as she doubled over, her face buried in her talons. Most of the group now looked completely confused, but Goliath nodded grimly while Miki looked at Alan understandingly.

"I guess she's heard the awful truth," she said softly. "Straight 'from the horse's mouth,' as I think the saying goes. I can't help feeling sorry for her."

"She has suffered many hardships," Goliath rumbled. "She has endured more suffering than we can possibly imagine. Nothing excuses her actions, but I can understand why she would allow herself to be drawn into such madness."

Alan was soon brought back to reality by a low snarl, coming from Demona. She slowly moved her hands away from her face. They now saw that the dark veins that had been coursing through her body now seemed much thicker, her eyes were a blazing red colour and her sharp teeth were bared. Now she was trembling, as though something was fighting to escape from inside her.

"Then so be it," she snarled. "I would rather see this world destroyed than be left in the hands of the humans!"

Now even Goliath seemed startled by her words. Alan was sure that he knew her the best of any of them, and it seemed that she had crossed a line. Indeed, he noticed that her voice now sounded like an odd blend of her own, and that of something else entirely.

"Demona, this isn't you speaking!" Goliath said urgently. "You have let yourself be twisted by the demon inside you. We have a means of removing it, just-"

"No!" Demona suddenly roared, the trembling of her body becoming much more severe. "I won't let you! You deserve to die too, Goliath!"

As she finished, she cried out in pain, collapsing to one knee. Her skin seemed to be pulsing and bubbling like hot wax, then suddenly the skin began to peel away, and white bone spikes suddenly shot out at the knees and shoulders. The skin was replaced by a hard carapace, the same dark purple and red colour as that of the Warriors. Two large fins grew out of the sides of her head, while bony spikes lined the mouth and a large amber horn suddenly grew out from between the eyes. Her body seemed to expand, becoming much taller and more muscular, the arms and legs thickening like tree stumps. Her wings also grew larger, while her tail lengthened and grew a claw-like appendage. In the middle of the chest, a strange circle of bone could be seen which occasionally pulsed, as if her heart was located under there.

As her transformation finished, Demona released a high-pitched, rattling cry, a horrible sound that filled Alan with dread. She then flapped her wings and took off into the air, sending dust everywhere, and as she did so the legions of drones and Warriors began to advance on the defenders again.

"Looks like she wants her little darlings to finish us off," Angela said.

"I'd like to see 'em try!" Broadway shouted, roaring a challenge.

Goliath, meanwhile, was following Demona with his eyes. Her new form seemed to have made her slower through the air, so there was still a chance to bring her down before she had a chance to escape. With that, he began to run towards the steps leading up to the battlements.

"Demona must be stopped!" he called over to Brooklyn. "You are in command until I return!"

"Got it, boss!" Brooklyn called back as he fought to keep a Warrior at bay. "We'll hold 'em off for as long as we can!"

"Ryuu!" Miki called over to Alan as she tried to set up a force-field. "Go with him! Your weapons are the only things that can stop her now!"

"But Miki-" Alan began, but she interrupted him.

"I can take care of this!" she called. "Just go!" Alan hesitated for a second, before dashing off after Goliath.

_Don't you dare die on me..._ he thought, as he joined Goliath on the battlements. He had to fight his way past several swarming drones, but they were cut down easily with the whip. Goliath looked a little surprised to see him as he ran up to him.

"You weren't seriously going to try and fight her on your own, were you?" Alan asked, in a slightly sardonic tone. Goliath seemed to reason that there was no time to argue, for he held out his hand for Alan to take.

"Hold on tight!" he commanded. Alan took as firm a hold as he could manage, then he and Goliath both jumped over the side of the battlements and into the open air. Goliath unfurled his wings, and soon the two of them were gliding after the dark shape of Demona, now some distance ahead of them.


	9. Dead Manhattan

**Dead Manhattan**

As the cold air stung his face, Alan never took his eyes off Demona as she headed towards the western river. All thoughts of how far it was to fall, or the possibility of Xanatos' forces shooting them down were pushed out of his mind. At that moment, the only thing he cared about what stopping Demona from spreading the parasite and killing billions of people. He carefully freed one of his arms and pulled out his gun, taking careful aim at Demona.

"Keep as steady as you can!" he called up to Goliath, who was concentrating as much as Alan was on Demona. "I might not get another shot!"

A look of revulsion flitted across Goliath's face for a moment as he looked down and saw Alan's gun, but it quickly passed. Alan knew that he did not have many of these special bullets, and that he had to make every shot count. When he was sure it was safe to do so, he pulled the trigger and fired. The force of the shot caused Alan's arm to snap back, and for a moment he was frightened that he would drop it.

The air in front of Alan and Goliath cooled rapidly as the bullet passed through it. By chance, the bullet struck Demona's left wing. From where the bullet hit, a sheet of ice began to spread along the wing, and by the time it stopped almost the entire wing was covered. Demona gave a piercing shriek, and with the wing frozen she began to spiral down towards the skyscrapers, no longer able to stay in the air. Alan and Goliath swooped down after her, and saw her disappear behind what looked like a bombed-out clock tower, covered in scaffolding.

As they landed on the wooden scaffolding planks, Alan noticed that Goliath looked rather forlorn. He then remembered that Angela had mentioned a clock tower above the police station, and that it used to be their home before it was destroyed. He reasoned that this may have been that very clock tower. Nonetheless, he and Goliath stepped carefully into the darkness of the ruins.

Even with the improved night-vision available to both mutant and gargoyle, there was no sign of Demona as they checked every conceivable hiding place. Every shadow seemed a very real threat, as Alan tried to hold both the gun and the whip steady. After several moments he and Goliath could hear the rattling breath of the creature that Demona had become, but the sound echoed strangely, making it hard to pinpoint. Every one of Alan's senses was straining to pick up some other clue of Demona's presence, and he found it harder to keep his nerves in check.

Suddenly Alan heard a rushing of wings coming from overhead, and he quickly looked up to find that Demona was right above him, diving straight down from a higher floor. He was unable to dive out of the way in time. Demona's body collided with his own, and for a fleeting moment Alan thought that she had broken every bone in his body as the force of the impact sent both of them straight through the floor, crashing onto the floor below. As Demona pulled herself upright, Alan fell limply to floor, knocked out cold. His gun and whip had been knocked out of his hands in the attack, and the whip landed some distance away, while the gun lay close to Alan's hand.

Curiously, Demona did not kill him or release the deadly Destroyer mist, but instead began to open her jaws wide. It seemed that she was preparing to bite Alan and infect him instead. At that moment, Goliath jumped down from the upper floor and landed on Demona's back. He quickly wrenched her head back, causing her to cry out in agony and stopping her from reaching Alan. She quickly regained her composure, however, and suddenly the claw on the end of her tail snapped onto Goliath's neck, almost choking him. With one smart tug, she threw the gargoyle off her and against the wall.

As she did, she spun round and released her mist-spray. Goliath was barely able to roll out of the way before he was consumed by the deadly gas. His roll took him close to where Alan's whip had fallen. He had observed its effects earlier, and had noticed how it had frozen the infected where it struck. He remembered Xanatos saying that the parasite was weak against the cold. As much as he disliked using weapons, and would never use guns under any circumstance, these weapons seemed to be the only chance he had of defeating this monster. His strength alone would not be enough. He rolled to dodge the spray again, and as he did so he grabbed Alan's whip and let the line fall free. The metal felt cold beneath his fingers.

"I did not want it to come to this, Demona..." he said, almost as if he thought he could reach the Demona he knew inside the shell of that creature. He then shook himself, ashamed that he had even tried to see Demona at all. He had to face facts that she was gone, and this demon had taken over. As he forced himself to accept this, he snarled, his eyes beginning to shine once again.

"No..." he growled. "You are not Demona. Not anymore!"

With a loud roar, he charged straight at Demona, diving out of the way of the slender, whip-like tail as it came shooting towards him. As he approached, he lashed out with the whip, catching Demona's shoulder. With a shriek the monster staggered backwards, the shoulder now looking frozen in a sheet of ice. As Goliath swung the whip again, Demona suddenly shot her arm up, deflecting the line, though a patch on her arm still became coated in ice.

She deflected two more strikes, before suddenly using her wings to push herself backwards and out of harm's way. Undeterred, Goliath caught up to her, but this time as he swung the arm carrying the whip, Demona's tail suddenly lashed out, the claw appendage catching Goliath's arm, wrenching the whip out of his grasp. Though Goliath struggled, he could not break free, and then found himself getting lifted off the floor and dragged closer to Demona. The parasite queen inhaled deeply with its deep, rattling breath. However, Goliath reacted quickly, grabbing Demona by the neck and forcing her head to tilt upwards. The Destroyer mist sprayed out of her mouth and shot towards the ruined ceiling, barely missing him.

Once the mist had passed, Goliath clenched his free hand into a fist and struck Demona repeatedly, with punches powerful enough to break the jaw of any ordinary human. The creature was noticeably stunned, but it recovered quickly, and used her tail to hold Goliath so that he was too far to hit her. He wrestled with the tail instead, trying to force the claw into releasing him, but it was stuck fast.

All of a sudden the tail whipped about suddenly, slamming Goliath into a concrete wall no less than three times. Goliath continued to attack the tail, grunting with each impact, but the signs of him being wounded by such injuries didn't show until the third time. Battered and bruised, he was pulled towards Demona again. Though he prepared to attack, she was too fast for him this time, and swiped a claw across his face. Several deep cuts formed in Goliath's face, but mercifully she missed his eyes.

Half-blinded and agonised, Goliath felt himself be slashed again across the chest, then again across the waist. He felt shots of searing pain shoot through him, and felt warm blood begin to trickle down his chest and face. The cuts did not seem too deep, and he had experienced worse, but there was always the danger that the wounds were infected. Before he could try to break free again, he was suddenly thrown hard, his head slamming into one of the concrete pillars. He collapsed hard to the floor and lay still for several seconds.

In the middle of this commotion, Alan was beginning to regain consciousness. He could not tell how long he had been out for, and he dreaded to think what had happened during that time. Upon hearing Demona's rattling breath, he lay still attempting to feign unconsciousness. When he felt it was safe to do so, he turned his head to have a better look.

As his eyes began to re-focus, he could now see Goliath, clearly heavily dazed, badly injured and struggling to his feet. He also saw the enormous shape of Demona, slowly moving towards him. For a moment, he thought he could see a sadistic grin playing across the creature's face as it advanced, and he also fancied that he could hear an odd, breathy chuckle. Goliath was now on his knees, shaking his head, clearly trying to come to his senses quickly, but Alan feared that he would not recover in time.

He looked around for something that might help. It was then that he noticed his gun still laid a mere few inches away from him. By a stroke of immense luck, it had not been lost or destroyed in the fight. He reached forward, grabbed it, dragged himself to his knees and took aim as he heard Demona drawing in a long, rattling breath. Clearly she intended to use the Destroyer mist and end the fight completely.

The gun almost flew out of his hands when he pulled the trigger, sending an icy bullet through the air. It struck Demona's back, and where the shot had landed a sheet of ice instantly began to spread across the back, even onto the wings. The impact of the bullet covered a much larger area than striking with the whip did. He heard Demona shriek in agonising pain, and saw her turning away from Goliath and towards him, the eyes glowing furiously.

Alan didn't wait another second. He shot a second bullet, this time striking Demona in the chest area. Again the ice spread rapidly, and she staggered back from the impact, shrieking in what must have been untold agony for her. Alan didn't care, and he released a loud, animalistic snarl as he fired again and again, the bullets impacting against every part of Demona that he could hit. Finally, as he heard nothing but a dull click when he pulled the trigger, the parasite queen had been forced close to a window frame, covered in ice from head to toe. Her arm twitched for a moment, as she desperately struggled for life, but in the end she stood still, now nothing more than an ice sculpture, the face forever frozen in a look of intense hatred.

For a moment, Alan felt a strong urge to roar of his triumph over this opponent, but his human side pulled through and he remained quiet, lowering his now-empty revolver. Goliath got to his feet and staggered, with as much dignity as his injuries would allow, over to the statue, his expression full of a kind of grim resolution. As he stood before Demona, he paused for a moment, before raising his fist.

Releasing a loud roar, he swung his fist violently, punching straight through the upper chest of the statue. The ice shattered from the impact, destroying much of the top part of the body, sending the head flying away. The force of the punch knocked the statue straight through the window, sending it tumbling to the ground below. As Alan moved closer to get a look, he saw every piece fall to the street below and shatter with a resounding crash, the statue splintering into a thousand fragments.

Alan stood there lost in thought for a moment. It was over. He was sure that King Ghidorah had been beaten once again. His pawn was dead, and if his theory was right, all the other parasites would be too. He hoped and prayed that he was not wrong. He was now beginning to get worried about the others back at the castle, especially Miki; the battle had momentarily driven them all out of his mind.

He looked across at Goliath, who was now kneeling down, his eyes closed. At first, Alan was afraid that the injuries were worse than he thought, but as he was about to approach Goliath stood straight back up again, though his hand still clutched at the wound on his chest.

"Demona...." he said quietly. "Rest in peace."

Alan had been on the verge of making a joke about resting in pieces, but resisted the temptation. He knew that such a thing would be downright tacky, considering the circumstances. There was a moment of silence, and then Alan approached Goliath. The gargoyle was still clutching his chest, and Alan could see the spots where Demona had clawed at him.

"You gonna be alright?" Alan asked.

"I have strength enough to take us back to the castle," Goliath replied, nodding. "My injuries will heal at sunrise. We should get back to the castle before then."

"I meant about Demona," Alan said, awkwardly. "I mean... I heard that you were close once..."

Goliath just regarded Alan for a moment. He had been on the point of asking where Alan had learned this, but decided that it wasn't a big priority and dropped the subject. He sighed, and looked back towards the spot where Demona had fallen.

"That was a long time ago," he said, gravely. "Perhaps now her troubled spirit has finally found the peace it sought. I can take some consolation from that thought. However, I appreciate you concern on the matter."

"It's just..." Alan muttered. "If it had been Mi... er, Psyche-Lock, I don't know if I could have gone through with it." He stood still for a moment, looking back towards the castle. He was not sure why he was opening up to Goliath like this, but what he had said was very true. If Miki had harboured the queen parasite instead, a selfish part of him knew that he would let himself be infected just so that he could be with her. Then he wondered why he was thinking this, since Miki had openly wanted to call off their relationship. Goliath just nodded understandingly.

"If you love someone," he said calmly, "you will know them enough to know what they would want from you. When a time comes for such hard decisions, you will both know what would be the best action to take, even if it means great sacrifice."

Alan nodded, and prepared himself to be carried through the air once again. Goliath unfurled his wings, and soon the two of them were gliding back towards the castle. Alan noticed that Goliath seemed to be struggling to hold him up, and he didn't dare look down.

***

If Alan and Goliath had stayed at the clock tower for a few seconds more, they would have seen a strange light begin to fill the dark chambers, twinkling slightly as if reflected from a 20th-century disco ball. The light gradually became brighter and brighter, as if a pillar of it was exploding right in the middle of the chamber.

At last, as the light faded away, three young women could be seen standing amidst the dust and debris. The three were triplets, as they were identical in every respect; their blonde hair, their blue eyes that shone like sapphires, the shape of their faces, even down to the bright white dresses that all three were wearing. They looked around them impassively, before looking out of the window and seeing the shattered ice on the street below.

"So this conflict has ended..." one of the sisters said nonchalantly.

"Yes, sister," the second woman replied. "If it were not for the forbidden magics used, I do not doubt that the outcome would have been very different."

"What of Demona?" asked the third sister.

"The laws of magic are unbreakable," the first sister replied. "Demona can only die by Macbeth's hand. Even now she is being restored, in body and mind, away from this site. Her spirit is now rid of the Hydra's influence, and that of the life-forms that resided in her veins and twisted her into such a lamentable state. Perhaps she will be a little bit wiser for her encounter."

"Perhaps," the third sister said. "She may yet live to see what I have seen in my meditations." She closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards, as if to look at the heavens.

"A war is coming," she continued. "Centuries from now, conflict will ravage this planet, and bring about the end of this age of magic. Other specifics of the conflict are not clear, but the Guardians know it to be true. Perhaps they too, even the exiled Shobijin among them, have come to understand that magic must not be left in the hands of mortals, and will let these events take their course as we must."

It was then that the first sister looked doubtful, as if something had been plaguing her mind.

"The Hydra is a threat to both the fae and the mortals," she said. "Avalon would not survive the loss of mana that would ensue if he is victorious. He came close to being revived this very night. Should we not ensure our survival and take up arms against him?"

"Not unless Oberon commands it, sister," the third sister replied. "Right now, we have been ordered not to interfere in mortal affairs. To do so would be to present a great risk to ourselves and all the knowledge that we have tried to conserve. Besides," she paused, waving an arm towards the window, "the world must forever bear the scars of the reckless use of magic. Oberon would not wish for us to lower to the level of the mortals in the same way. Have faith in our king, sister, for he is a much more powerful seer than I, and will surely know how these events must play out."

"What of the warrior?" the second sister asked. "The one who used the forbidden arts to battle Demona? The one who bears the soul of the beast within him?"

"It is difficult to see," the third sister replied. "His future is in a constant state of flux, though I doubt he is of much consequence in the grand scheme of things to come."

All three sisters were silent for a moment, before all nodded in unison.

"Then let us return to Avalon," the first sister said, "and observe what fate awaits the mortals."

The three sisters moved closer to each other. With eyes closed, they held hands and stood in a makeshift circle. The light once again enveloped them, and within seconds there was no trace of them ever being there.

***

Everything was still as Alan and Goliath approached the Xanatos building once again. Aside from the rushing wind, Alan could not hear any sounds at all. When he snatched a chance to look down, he could see that nothing was moving in the streets at all. The stillness all around them was beginning to prey on Alan's mind, as if this great forest of skyscrapers could not find a voice for its sorrow.

Soon enough, the two reached the castle atop Xanatos' tower, and what struck them instantly were the inordinate amount of bodies lying around, making the courtyard and battlements look like they were covered in a large dark shroud. As they got closer and landed, they realised that the bodies belonged to the infected. Not a single one of them moved. They were all dead; every single host, drone and Warrior lay scattered about. Those that were not already dead were on the ground, prone and making no effort to fight or take any kind of action. They just flopped about uselessly, as if in their death-throes. Alan was so taken aback by the sight that he initially didn't notice that the gargoyles, mutates and Xanatos' forces were staggering this way and that, clearly fatigued beyond measure, some sporting very visible injuries and being tended to by doctors. Some of the security personnel were tapping the bodies with their feet, checking to make sure that they would not get back up again.

Alan then saw Elisa, fighting her way through the crowd. She had grabbed a first-aid box from one of the attending medics and was rushing over to Goliath. She must have seen the injuries on his face and chest, for she looked horrified. Matt too was still alive, though sporting a large gash on his arm, and he was hanging back and being treated.

"Goliath!" Elisa called as she approached him. "I was worried sick! Are you alright?!"

"As well as can be expected, Elisa," Goliath replied, making a brave effort to smile. "Sunrise will soon be upon us. I am just glad to see that you are still alive."

"Never a dull day for us, is there?" Elisa said coyly, before helping to support Goliath. Alan bent down to examine a dead Warrior, a puzzled expression beginning to form on his face.

"So..." he said, standing back up and looking over at all the bodies again. "So is that it? I mean, have we won?"

"Yes, that is most definitely 'it'," Xanatos' voice suddenly said. Alan spun round to see what he had thought was the red-painted Goliath robot stood behind him. He saw now that it was actually a suit of battle armour; the head had been removed, and in its place was Xanatos' own, smiling at Alan as if he was a particularly inquisitive child.

"All of their minds were connected to the queen parasite," he continued. "Evidently she is now dead, and with her death all of their minds were destroyed. They are, for lack of a better term, brain-dead." His smile widened further. "So of course you have won. What did you expect?"

"I dunno..." Alan said. "It just... Well, it just feels like a bit of an anti-climax somehow."

"Don't knock it, Ryuu!" Brooklyn then chimed in, a look of enormous relief on his face. "At least we're all okay!"

Close by, Alan could see the rest of the gargoyles with similar looks of enormous relief. Goliath was bidding farewell to the three mutates; clearly they intended to get the people under their care back to the Labyrinth as quickly as possible, for Talon looked somewhat uncomfortable being in the castle.

Alan looked back over at Xanatos, who still had a confident smile on his face. Alan wanted to punch him in the face there and then, and his claw did clench into a fist. He wanted to tell Xanatos that that had been far too close. It was because of him that King Ghidorah very nearly revived sooner than expected and consumed everything in the world. He wanted to say all this and more, yet he held himself in. Nothing he said or did now would bring all of those people back. He released a deep sigh and walked away from the businessman.

"What's the use?" he muttered. He turned and walked towards the tallest tower, where the rest of the gargoyles were beginning to go. With a start, he realised that there was one person missing.

"Where's Miki?" he asked. Broadway heard him and merely shrugged.

"I've not seen her since the infected all started dying," Brooklyn said. "She must have taken off somewhere."

Alan was now beginning to panic. Had she been infected by the Destroyer parasites? Had she been taken by Xanatos, in a move to silence them both? His mind could not stop making wild theories, each one progressively more disturbing. He ran to and fro across the courtyard for a time, calling her code-name, but receiving no response. Afterwards, he tried calling for her in his mind, using the mental connection that Miki now shared with all members of the Godzilla bloodline.

_Miki?!_ he thought. Again, there was no response. He tried again, louder this time, but still no reply. Alan's feelings of panic began to mount even higher. Just as he was about to and confront Xanatos, however, he spotted her, kneeling over the body of another infected. It seemed that she had been saying a prayer for the dead. As Alan approached, Miki turned around, and he saw that her face was streaked with tears.

"I'm sorry, Alan..." she said, quietly, wiping her eyes. "I didn't want you to see me like this..." Alan could not think of a way to reply that would comfort her. He could see now that she had been deeply troubled by the events of the night, and didn't know what words were supposed to make someone feel better about it.

"All those people..." she continued, looking around at the dozens of bodies in the courtyard. "All of them dead... They can't disagree or share moments or make love to each other... They can't do any of that anymore." At this, she moved closer to Alan, still desperately fighting back tears. Much to Alan's surprise, she actually embraced him.

"Hold me, Alan," she said. "I just want to feel your arms around me, because we're not dead."

Alan returned the embrace. It seemed that Miki had said aloud exactly what he had been thinking. The embrace continued for half a minute, with Miki sobbing quietly into Alan's chest. If Alan could have asked for one moment in his life to be frozen forever, it would be this one. This fight, more than any that he had ever faced in his life, had served to remind him of how good it felt just to be alive. After this moment, Miki pulled away, a brave smile forming on her lips.

"I suppose we had better go say goodbye," she said, indicating the tallest tower.

A moment later, upon reaching the top of the tower they found that the gargoyles were there, as was Elisa. They were all preparing themselves for the dawn, and the sky to the east was slowly becoming lighter, with sunrise now a mere few minutes away. After the events of the previous night, Alan had never felt more grateful to see a new dawn approach.

"Am I to assume that you both depart for Seattle today?" Goliath asked.

"Yeah," Alan said, nodding. "I'm sorry we couldn't save more people, but when you have to deal with King Ghidorah..."

Goliath shook his head. "Apologies for what was beyond your control are not necessary," he said. "The important thing to remember is that tonight, hope has endured. The people of Manhattan are resilient. They will restore the beating heart of this city, and we will aid them in this.

"However," he went on, "it seems that I do owe you both an apology. My behaviour towards you was inexcusable. I had believed you to be mercenaries with no honour or integrity; I see now that I may have been mistaken."

"It's forgotten, mate," Alan said, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides, I _am_ a mercenary."

"You are also a good man, Ryuu," Goliath said. "Never forget that."

"_I wouldn't contradict him, Alan,"_ Miki said in Alan's mind. _"Something tells me that Goliath is a good judge of character."_

The sky had grown lighter as they had been talking. Goliath looked towards the east, and then nodded.

"All that is left for me to do is to wish you both a safe journey," he said, smiling for the first time at them. "If ever your path brings you back to Manhattan, seek us out. You will always have allies with the clan." He held out his hand, which Alan took, shaking it.

"My name's Alan," he said, smiling.

"Mine's Miki," Miki said, as Goliath held her hand and gave a small bow.

"It has been a privilege," he said, before turning to look at Elisa, smiling. "I will see you tomorrow night, Elisa."

"Have a good sleep, Goliath," Elisa said, returning a similarly warm smile.

With that, Goliath moved back towards the edge of the tower, and as the sun's rays came over the horizon, he and the other gargoyles froze in various intimidating poses, their skin once again becoming stone. The three humans were silent for a moment.

"You ready to go, Elisa?" Matt Bluestone then said, peering up through the trapdoor to the stairs.

"Sure thing," she replied, failing to stifle a yawn. "I'm glad it's not my shift today. I need some shut-eye."

"You and me both," said Matt. He peered at the two shadowrunners for a moment. "What about them?" he asked. Elisa looked at them with a wry smile.

"I think we can afford to give 'em a day's head-start," she said, winking. Alan couldn't help smiling; after everything they had just been through, getting arrested would have been too much to take.

"Your call," Matt replied, shrugging. "I'll see you in the lobby." With that, he headed back down the trapdoor.

"Thanks for all your help," Elisa said to the two shadowrunners. "Especially for helping Goliath back there."

"Yeah, well..." Alan said vaguely, at first pretending that it was no big deal. In the end, he just nodded saying "You're welcome."

"Take care of yourselves," Elisa said, before heading down the stairs and into the castle.

"I guess we'd better get going too," Miki said. With that, the two headed towards the stairs. Alan took one last look at the statues of those powerful gargoyles, before following Miki into the castle.

"I wonder what would happen," he said, "if one of them has ever frozen at an awkward moment. You know, say they happened to be taking a whizz at the time?"

"Alan!" Miki said, sounding disgusted.

"What?" Alan asked, shrugging. "It was just a thought."


	10. Beauty and the Beast

**Beauty and the Beast**

A few minutes later, Alan and Miki were making their way back to the elevators to the lobby. Both wanted to leave as quickly as possible, before Xanatos or any of his men tried to stop them. They doubted that they would be allowed to leave, knowing what they knew, though they were unsure how they would get all the way back to Seattle without anyone from the corporation realising.

Even while Miki was trying to solve that problem, however, she could not help thinking about her own feelings for Alan. She knew that she had said that she wished to break up, but things that she had seen and heard since then had made her re-evaluate that decision. She wasn't sure if she could say these things to Alan, however, sure that she would end up getting some remark about flip-flopping (which, if she was being honest with herself, she probably was doing). She decided not to say anything until they got safely back to Seattle; at present, she knew that they had more pressing concerns.

It was as they were walking down the last corridor before they reached the elevators that Alan suddenly doubled over, grunting in pain. Miki ran over to him and put her arms around her as he began to shake from head to toe.

"Alan?" she said, trying to speak soothingly. "Are you alright? Come on, we have to-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, for Alan suddenly cried out, as if he had suddenly been stabbed by something. Miki backed away in shock, as Alan began writhing on the spot, still yelling in apparent pain. On the outside, nothing seemed to be happening to him, but Miki had the horrible feeling that she knew what was happening. She had been warned about this, and had hoped never to have to witness it.

She remembered the warnings that she had heard about the amino acid in Alan's body known as Organiser G-1, which was the reason for his incredible regenerative capability. This came with a steep price, however, for it was gradually mutating him into a new Godzilla, a body which better suited its needs. Miki was afraid that the mutations were starting again after so long of apparently lying dormant. Alan eventually stopped crying out, his yells being replaced by low animalist snarls, his body still shivering.

"Alan?" Miki ventured, carefully stepping forward, hardly daring to breathe. As she got closer, Alan suddenly spun around, and just the look on his face almost made Miki scream out loud. For now he looked fierce, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. He was still snarling in that same low, guttural tone, every part of his body trembling. Indeed, he looked half-mad and Miki was now afraid to approach him. She was rooted to the spot, almost paralysed with fear. The minute she saw him, she knew that every effort to prevent this happening had failed. His mind was now becoming fractured, reduced to a bestial level as the monster inside him began to take over. She had been warned about this, and had been prepared for it. In her moment of shock she had almost forgotten this, but in the end carefully reached for a pouch on her belt.

All of a sudden Alan roared a loud, trumpet-like roar, sounding just like Godzilla's, and launched himself at her. Startled, she was knocked backwards and landed hard on the floor. Alan was now leaning over her, looking at her with absolute fury, raising his clawed arm and preparing to attack. Thinking fast, Miki raised a shield spell just in time, as the claw swung downwards and collided with it. She saw Alan swipe repeatedly, as if trying to tear the shield apart, and the strain that he was putting on it was getting to her. She knew that she could never hold it forever.

Thinking quickly, she reached back into the belt-pouch and pulled out a syringe full of a viscous white fluid. Hoping and praying that this would work, she let the shield drop and thrust her arm forward, jamming the needle into Alan's neck as the sharp claw stretched out for her again, injecting the liquid into his veins. Alan shrieked, releasing a higher-pitched roar. Miki was able to knock him aside with a clout spell and roll away from him. She got back to her feet and watched Alan, still gazing at her with that wild look on his face, snarling like an animal. As he tried to spring at her again, however, his eyelids drooped, and after staggering for a brief moment, collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Miki panted hard, trying to steady her nerves. This was the first time that she had ever had to use that drug, and she really wasn't sure if it would work. She had hoped that she would never have to use it, but it was too late now. All she knew was that she had to somehow get him back to Seattle quickly, though she had idea how she would manage it.

As she moved over to Alan's body and tried to lift it, a sound like a stampede reached her ears. Spinning around, she saw members of Xanatos' security forces charging down the corridor from both ends, brandishing rifles. They surrounded her and pointed their rifles at Alan. There they froze, as Owen walked through the soldiers towards her. His face still held the same cold, apparently emotionless expression that he had earlier. Miki assumed that they had caught Alan's outburst on a security camera. With mounting panic, she approached Owen.

"Listen to me," she implored. "I don't have time to explain, but we have to get him away from here! I have to get him back to Seattle, now call your men off and get out of our way!"

"Calm yourself, Miss Psyche-Lock," Owen said. He looked down at his commlink for a moment before turning his gaze back to her. "A plane is being fuelled for you and your partner at JFK Airport, and a medical team is approaching now. Whatever the urgency of your situation, we can get you back to Seattle within the space of a few hours." As he spoke, two men appeared, carrying a stretcher between them. The soldiers stood aside to let them approach, and they set to work loading Alan's body onto the stretcher.

"I hope so..." Miki said, wearily. "I don't know how long he'll be unconscious for. If he wakes up mid-flight..." She shook herself, trying not to think of the consequences of that. She knew that she had more samples of the sedative back at their base, and she hoped that she would reach them in time. She also knew that she had to call in a certain specialist for Alan, but didn't dare open up communication lines on her commlink out of fear of hackers getting inside it while her guard was down.

With these doubts in her mind, she entered the elevator with Alan and the medical team, and began to ride down to the ground floor. As the security forces went back to their stations, Owen noticed something on the hallway carpet. Stooping down to pick it up, he noticed that it was a human tooth; a premolar, to be exact. He remembered spotting traces of blood on Alan's lip, and wondered if that was where the tooth had come from. Putting it in his pocket, he walked to Xanatos' office.

Xanatos was standing by the window, peering out over the vast skyline of Manhattan when he bid Owen to enter. As his assistant entered, Xanatos turned to face him, the expression on his face now more serious than it had been.

"You have seen to the departure of our guests?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Owen replied. "They are on their way to the airport now." Xanatos pressed some buttons on his desk, bringing up a holographic display. It was showing footage from a security camera, now showing Miki leaving the building with Alan and the medical team. The display shrank and vanished as Xanatos turned back to face Owen.

"Have you any news from our hacking team?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Owen replied promptly. "They have made several attempts to hack the commlinks of our guests, but they have reported no success. Their firewalls and ICs are too powerful to break through. Whoever their technical supplier is, they have thought of every possible attack that we could throw at them."

"I see," replied Xanatos, nodding. He brought up more holographic displays, showing footage from other cameras. "Thank you, Owen. Check my appointments and return any calls for now."

"Yes, sir," Owen replied, leaving the office. Over an hour passed while Owen did his day-to-day duties. He did not feel tired from the previous night; he never tired, not while there was important work to be done. It was while he was checking the status of the plane that was on its way to Seattle when he noticed something was out of place. He walked down to Xanatos' office and stepped inside, his boss now sat at his desk once again.

"Sir," Owen said, "we have lost contact with the Seattle flight. There is nothing but silence on all communications channels."

"I know, Owen," Xanatos replied calmly. "You see, I have just had that plane destroyed, by means of a remote self-destruct." Pointing at one of the displays, Owen saw a radar screen, and the words 'Detonation Confirmed' were flashing on the bottom.

"If I thought I could erase the data they gathered from their commlinks," Xanatos continued, "then I would have been more inclined to allow them to live. After all, people are less inclined to believe mere word-of-mouth, especially about a creature that was supposed to have died more than sixty years ago. This was the only viable solution to destroying any evidence of what happened here tonight. The official story will be that it was the result of a magical terrorist attack. After all, there are several groups out there who have it in for anything that is not them; any of them would be suitable to take the fall."

"I see," Owen replied, showing no emotion.

"I have had to make a number of hard decisions as a result of the last twenty four hours," Xanatos said. "I believe that now is as good a time as any to put those decisions into effect. For starters, I want the bones of Monster Zero taken off-site and destroyed."

"Are you sure of that, sir?" Owen asked. "You know how much the Illuminati invested into that research. Whatever their intentions were, they will not be pleased when they find out what it is you plan to do."

"Who says they have to know?" Xanatos replied, arching an eyebrow. "My family almost died because of the creature that those bones belong to. Such an unstable entity cannot be controlled or reasoned with, and I for one will not take that risk again. It was a harsh lesson, but we would only have learned that through practice. The bones will be destroyed, and I will have the research data deleted as well. If the Illuminati do investigate, we can say that it was an act of corporate sabotage. After all, there are shadowrunners other than the late Ryuu no Me and Psyche-Lock that we have to concern ourselves with. I trust that I can rely on you and your teams to make sure our tracks are covered?"

"Of course, sir," Owen replied. "In the meantime, I have received word about the Stone of Destiny."

"Is that so?" Xanatos asked, sounding slightly amused.

"It is to begin its journey back to Scotland within the next two weeks," Owen said. "Do you still wish to bring Coldsteel in to deal with the matter?"

"Of course," replied Xanatos. "This is an operation that has been in planning for some time. If nothing else, he will make a useful distraction. I also do not doubt that old fool Macbeth will take a personal hand in the matter. I want him to be kept under surveillance."

"Understood, sir," Owen said. "I will go and arrange your flight to England."

"Thank you, Owen," Xanatos said. Owen was about to leave, when he suddenly remembered the tooth in his pocket. His focus on his work had driven it out of his mind. He pulled it out and placed it on Xanatos' desk.

"A souvenir of the evening, Owen?" Xanatos said, sounding amused.

"I found this in the hallway, sir," Owen replied, sounding somewhat less amused. "I believe it fell out of the mouth of the late Ryuu no Me before he was taken to the lobby."

"Interesting..." Xanatos muttered, picking up the tooth and holding it up to the desk-light. "Such a curious being, wasn't he? I could hear the sounds he made from here before his departure. It reminds me of recordings of a certain creature that were made during the 20th century. Curious... Very curious indeed."

"Is this something else you do not wish to inform the Illuminati of, sir?" Owen asked. He knew that this office was one of the few places the Illuminati could not monitor, which explained Xanatos' willingness to discuss his plans openly in the room. At all other times both knew that they had to be careful what they said.

"Yes, Owen," Xanatos replied. "For the time being, at least, I believe that this development is best kept between us. With some research, we may be able to divine some use from it." He placed the tooth in a small glass tube, which he placed in a drawer under his desk.

"Very well, sir," Owen said curtly. "I will see to the arrangements for the operation in England." With that, he promptly departed from the office.

Xanatos got to his feet once again, and moved over to a cabinet by the wall. He pulled out a glass and poured a measure of sherry from a decanter. He slowly moved over to the window and looked out once again over the skyline. Already he was thinking and planning ahead for future operations. He spent a brief moment reflecting on the events of the previous night, and what it had almost cost him, both personally and financially. It had been a terrible mistake on his part, but he was not the sort to let mistakes stop him. If anything, he firmly believed that they only served to make him stronger, that he could learn something from it. He raised his glass to the window, a smile on his face.

"To Ryuu no Me and Psyche-Lock," he said. "May you both be in God's good grace."

With that, he drank the sherry and returned to his day-to-day duties.

***

Xanatos' computer staff had not mentioned anything untoward had happened, so he did not realise that the data on his computers was incredibly misleading. For while his radar screen had told him that the detonation of the self-destruct device had been successful, the plane carrying Miki and Alan was very much intact, still heading on a westerly course. Nothing on the plane was untoward, the pilots continuing to carry out the job they had been assigned to do. Miki sat beside Alan on one of the seats, while Alan was still unconscious. Now and again Miki noticed another of Alan's teeth fall out, and traces of blood trickled out over the lips. Miki gathered up the teeth, getting more and more worried about Alan by the minute, and prayed that they would reach Seattle quickly.

Time passed, and Miki noticed that Alan was beginning to stir fitfully, and immediately she feared that he was starting to come to. She feared that they were still some distance away from Seattle, and if he woke up now it would be too late to treat him. She tried to reach out to him in her mind, trying desperately to speak to the Alan that she knew was in the mind somewhere.

"_Alan,"_ she projected, _"if you can hear this, I need to tell you something."_ She paused for a moment, trying to organise her words. This was something that she had wanted to say to Alan under brighter circumstances, but now she hoped that it would bring him back from the brink and keep the monster at bay.

"_Back in the castle,"_ she continued, _"I couldn't help looking into Elisa's mind. I saw everything that she and Goliath had been through, all of the struggles and experiences that they had shared. It made me regret my words yesterday. It made me realise something."_ She paused and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to steady her frayed nerves.

"_Normalcy is overrated,"_ she finished. For a moment she thought she saw Alan's lips begin to curl into a smile, but assumed that she had imagined it as he continued to lay there, unchanged and still stirring.

The blinds on all of the windows in the plane had been closed to this point, and Miki decided to open one, feeling that the flight was taking longer than it should be. What she saw below was a dry, desert landscape, with barely a scrap of vegetation to be seen anywhere. Much of the land in the former United States had been altered during the Awakening, but Miki was sure that this was like no landscape around Seattle or anywhere else in the north. With her fear now becoming mixed with confusion, she walked up to the cockpit to talk to the pilots.

"What's going on?" she asked. "This doesn't look like the northern territories."

"Change of plans, ma'am," the pilot – a young elf man in his twenties - said promptly. "We're to touch down in Salt Lake City."

"Salt Lake City?!" Miki said, indignantly. "What the hell's going on?!"

"Not our place to guess, ma'am," the pilot said. "The order just came from the very top. We're to drop you off at Salt Lake, and there'll be transports waiting to take you and your patient to a specialist facility."

Now Miki was thoroughly puzzled. Did Xanatos have experience with Godzilla cells? Was this all part of some sort of elaborate trap to silence them? Whatever was happening, it seemed she had no choice but to play along; Alan was too vulnerable at present to risk his life by doing something reckless.

"How long until we land?" she asked.

"Not long now, ma'am," the pilot replied. "Ten or fifteen minutes tops. You'd best strap yourselves in."

So Miki returned to her seat and fastened both her and Alan's seatbelts. Just as the pilot predicted, the plane landed ten minutes later on a dusty runway outside Salt Lake City. As Miki helped to carry Alan off the plane, she noticed that his eyes were beginning to open, and he was making low groaning sounds. Knowing that time was running out, she saw an unmarked white van parked nearby, as well as two other cars. Several metahumans in white uniforms appeared, and in spite of Miki's protests carried Alan over to the back of the van.

Placing him inside, Miki saw these apparent captors bind Alan's hands with metal cuffs, chained to the floor of the van's interior. Alan now seemed to be more awake than before, though his eyes still looked unfocused as the doors of the van slammed shut. Miki was ushered into the van's cabin, and soon the van was pulling away from the runway, with the cars escorting it along a quiet back-road.

About ten minutes into the ride, when the convoy was away from the city limits, Miki suddenly heard a trumpet-like roar and loud banging noises coming from the back of the truck. With every slam the truck actually jolted slightly, though not enough to pose any serious danger to the drivers. When Miki thought about what was happening to Alan, she found herself trying to stop herself from weeping. She could not believe that things had really come to this, and dreaded to think what was going to happen to both herself and Alan. Every question she asked to the drivers was met with either a curt "Can't say anything," or stony silence. Never had she felt so alone and helpless. She felt that she ought to do something, but she could not risk leaving Alan when he was a danger to himself and others.

After what felt like too long to Miki, the truck finally slowed down and stopped out in the middle of the desert. There was nothing for miles around that Miki could see, except for an ordinary-looking office building. She saw a figure emerge from the sliding doors at the front, but could not clearly make out who it was. The truck was then turned around, so that the back was facing the door of the building. What such a building would be doing out in the middle of nowhere was a complete mystery to her, but she had little time to think about it as the drivers of the truck and the cars stepped out and headed towards the truck's back door.

Miki followed them, just as the door was thrown open. When she looked inside, she saw that several dents were now lining the walls of the truck. Alan was still secured by the chains, roaring at the assembled workers and peering at them with a wild, animalistic look. Looking closer, Miki saw that his mouth was now starting to grow a full set of teeth again, only now all of those teeth were long, sharp fangs. He struggled violently against the chains, roaring and shrieking at his captors. Miki turned away, unable to continue watching the state that he had been reduced to.

Suddenly a shot was fired, and Miki heard Alan shriek once again. Looking back at him, she saw him starting to stagger again, and saw a white dart sticking out of his neck. Alan's eyes unfocused, and with a low moan he collapsed to the floor. Instantly the white-suited drivers moved in, aiming guns at him. Shocked, Miki turned around to see a familiar figure, dressed in a smart suit, piercing grey eyes and tidy white hair. He was holding a dart gun, which was still raised as he walked away from the building towards her.

"Johnson?!" Miki said out of shock. She had seen him a few times as the team's fixer, but had never spoken to him. It seemed that he was only ever interested in talking to Alan, and none of his team had any idea why considering that Alan had a tendency to display as much tact and subtlety as a brick to the teeth. Now Johnson was regarding the unconscious shadowrunner with a cold look.

"Take his cuffs off," he said. While his men set to work undoing Alan's bonds, Johnson turned to the shocked Miki.

"I apologise for this sudden change to your schedule," he said to her, "but I am afraid our mutual friend has very little time. The sedative I have administered was only a small dose, and we must act quickly if we are to help him in any way. Now help me to get him downstairs where I can put him in a more stable condition. We have important matters that need to be discussed."

With that, he and Miki pulled Alan to his feet. Johnson dismissed the drivers as they carried him into the building. In spite of Alan's weight, Johnson seemed to be taking the task of carrying him in his stride. He and Miki carried him into the building, through a plain-looking reception area and into a corridor. The building was well-lit and showed signs of being maintained, but it was virtually empty, as if the place was not used so much nowadays. At the end of a corridor was an elevator which they stepped into, and rode down underground.

"Look," Miki suddenly said to Johnson, as soon as the elevator began to move. "Just who are you anyway? How did you know about what was happening to us? Are you working for Xanatos after all?!"

"My dear Ms. Saegusa," Johnson said, with a low chuckle, "I can assure you that I am not affiliated with David Xanatos or his company. Mr. Tyler and I have quite a history. Soon you will come to understand why I prioritise his safety over any of my other 'clients'."

Miki just shook her head, annoyed at just how vague that answer was. She was about to question how Johnson knew their real names, when she looked beyond Johnson to see the window in the side of the elevator. The window was now overlooking a cavernous hangar, dimly-lit and full of catwalks crossing the length and breadth of the chamber. She also saw that the ceiling also acted as a large door, presumably to the surface. Currently, the hangar seemed to be empty, though from here she could not see all the way to the bottom.

A few seconds later, the elevator stopped. Johnson and Miki stepped out into a small antechamber. In the room was a gurney with gas cylinders and a respirator attached.

"Place him on there," Johnson said, indicating the gurney. Miki helped to place Alan on it, but as she did so she noticed that Johnson's outline was now very faint. As he placed a mask attached to the respirator on Alan's face, she saw that it flickered like a badly-tuned TV set. She had seen this type of phenomena before. It was a psychic projection; an image cast so that people around the caster would only see what they wanted others to see. In this case, Johnson wanted others to see him as the respectable-looking silver-haired human stood before her, but Miki was not fooled by the spell and she wanted to look at his true shape.

"There," Johnson was saying, as he turned a dial on the gas tanks. "This should keep him sedated but conscious for a while. It will keep the beast within him at bay until the sedative runs out, at least."

"Alright, Johnson," Miki said, her tone now sounding very hard. "Now that we've done this, it's time for you to cut the bullshit. Just who are you, and how do you know so much about us? I have just been through the worst twenty-four hours of my life, I am tired and I am very cranky. If I don't get some straight answers quickly I will make you wish you had never been born!"

After that outburst, things were silent for a few moments. Miki began to tremble, but did her best to hide it. She knew that she could not afford to show weakness. She had a few psychic spells of her own that she could use should it ever come to a fight. Johnson stood quietly regarding her for a few moments, before letting loose a deep laugh.

"I see Alan's influence really has rubbed off on you," Johnson said, in an amused tone. At once the figure of Johnson flickered and faded away. When Miki saw what the caster really looked like, her eyes widened and she very nearly screamed out loud.

For stood before her now was a figure that she knew very well indeed from pictures and news reports. It looked like a large bio-mechanical dinosaur, at least seven feet tall and with most of the body covered in silver-coloured armour. A long tail dragged behind it, while dorsal spines stuck out of the back. Only the head was exposed, revealing a grey-scaled reptilian face, with golden eyes with slit pupils. Many strands of green bio-syntech grew out of the top of the head, giving the figure the appearance of having green dreadlocks. It looked at Miki, its arms folded and an amused grin on its face.

"I am sure that I do not need to tell you who I am," the bio-mechanical reptile said in a deep, handsome voice. "Now would you kindly help me to get Alan to the medical lab so that I can perform a proper examination?"


	11. Rebirth

**Rebirth**

Kiryuu Knight, the original Godzilla reborn as a bio-mechanical construct with advanced sentient AI, had learned much since his last encounter with his rebellious 'grandson'. Ever since the Battle of Knoxville he had studied the many aspects of Technomancy intensely, and under guidance from tutors such as the feathered serpent Malcho he had developed his skills as a psychic and Technomancer. After a great deal of practice he had mastered the ability known as Mass Displacement, allowing him to change his size at will. Attempts to shapeshift and sustain a metahuman form, however, had proven considerably less successful, and so he used powerful psychic projections such as his Mr. Johnson disguise whenever he wanted to move about incognito. Of course, such a technique was not fool-proof, and any competent psychic could inevitably see through the deception just as Miki had.

Technomancy was not the only skill that he had strived to improve, of course. He was always training and developing his already-impressive skills as a master hacker. It had taken time, but now he could enter virtually any network undetected. He had been able to slip into Xanatos' computer networks undetected to keep an eye on Alan as he went about his business. When Xanatos tried to destroy the plane returning to Seattle, he was able to block the detonation signal and trick Xanatos' computers into showing that the plane was destroyed. He had contacted the pilots of the plane, leading them to believe that the orders came from Xanatos, and sent them here to Utah.

All of this he explained to Miki as the two of them wheeled Alan through the base to the small medical laboratory. The base was more lively underground than the surface building was, as various staff could be seen carrying out various duties. Kiryuu had kept the place maintained; in spite of his terms as President of the UCAS and leader of its armed forces, not to mention his heavy involvement in his company the Utah Foundation, this place that he had called home for many years was still unknown by the vast majority of the world. It was a site he was able to return to whenever delicate operations were required, such as this one. He moved Alan's gurney into the centre of the medical bay and began to attach various wires and electrodes to his head and body. Alan was now more awake, but decidedly drugged, as his eyes mostly had a strange far-away look. He seemed to be barely aware of what was going on around him, and certainly was in no condition to protest. He and Kiryuu were not on the best of terms, and Alan had hoped and prayed that they would never cross paths again. As with most things in his life, however, that wish would never be granted.

"So all this time..." Miki said in disbelief. "All those shadowruns... All those times that Mr. Johnson was here... It was you the whole time!"

"I believe we have already established that, Ms. Saegusa," Kiryuu said impatiently.

"But all this time you were there," Miki ranted on, "and you didn't say anything?! He has needed your help, and you just left him to rot!"

Kiryuu gave a deep rumbling sigh as he read the various monitors showing Alan's heart rate and brain activity.

"I promised him that I would not directly interfere in his attempts to lead a life," he rumbled.

"Which you've broken!" Miki ranted.

"For his own good," Kiryuu retorted. "Did he honestly believe that I would allow such a headstrong member of my family to wander about without some form of protection? You would both be scattered all over the UCAS territories by now if I had not stopped that detonation code, and the only reason that neither Malcho nor Lofwyr have hunted down and dined on Alan for the trouble he caused them is because I dissuaded them from it. Give me some credit where it is due, Ms. Saegusa; I always look out for my family."

"But what about all those other times you could have helped?!" Miki spat. "Are you aware of what has happened to Alan in the past year alone?! He has been placed in the firing line, and you let him suffer! How can you claim to be watching out for him if you won't help him?!"

Again, Kiryuu sighed. It seemed that Miki's words had some effect on him, but it didn't seem to Miki like regret. Indeed, it seemed like he only regretted being caught, rather like a child.

"I do not blame you for your words," Kiryuu rumbled. "Especially as I am responsible for Alan being in so much danger over this past year alone." Before Miki could interrupt him, he continued.

"The blood bond between all of our family was what brought Kaiser and Orga to this country, seeking us out. Though we never spoke face-to-face, they did come close enough for me to sense their presence. I saw nothing but hatred and bitterness in Kaiser's heart, and knew that he would pose a threat to this world if allowed to roam unchecked. However, I did not stop him. I allowed him to find and attack Alan. I knew that Alan would never forgive me for killing his best friends had he been denied the chance to discover the truth for himself. I had to know if Alan was capable of accepting the truth and doing what had to be done, even at great risk to his own life.

"I also allowed Catherine Powell, or the Reaper, as she preferred to be called, to find out about Alan and his true nature. I made no attempts to stop her from learning the truth. I knew that her madness would be her own undoing, yet I allowed her to continue. I knew that her obsession with monsters and her own pride would never allow her to pass up the opportunity to fight a real Godzilla so close to her, and I had to believe that Alan could stop her." He looked down at Alan for a brief moment with an expression of what looked like pity before facing Miki again. "I do not doubt that he has been through a terrible ordeal in Manhattan. Knowing the nature of Dr. Sevarius' work, I had to believe that he could handle whatever was coming his way before I decided to send him there."

"But..." Miki stammered. "But why?! Why put him through so much torture?! Why send all of these threats after him?!"

"To season him up for the battle to come," Kiryuu said flatly. "A battle, unfortunately, I perceive will end tragically. Although, Alan is most persistent on his revenge against that demon King Ghidorah. Perhaps even more than I. However, I have been making preparations for the fight to come and I would never allow Alan to dive so blindly headstrong into such a struggle without knowing that he was ready." He folded his arms and gave Miki a rather haughty gaze. "Though, he never would have accepted my help even if I had given it to him on a silver platter. It is not in his nature. Even you know that. This was the best way to prepare him for the fight against King Ghidorah and his Horrors."

"He could have died because of you!" Miki half-shouted.

"He did not, however," Kiryuu said calmly. Miki tried to think of a retort, but could not come up with one. It dawned on her that, no matter what she said, Kiryuu was firm on the matte, completely assured that he was right. She couldn't help likening him to Alan in that respect.

"Alan was right..." she muttered. "You really are a scheming, manipulative bastard."

"Be that as it may," Kiryuu said, "it seems Alan may never get the chance to complete the training." He surveyed the monitors again. The various readings were highly erratic. One scanner showed several white cells with three long strands emerging from them. These strands were now flailing wildly, as if batting away invisible insects.

"I just don't understand it..." Miki said, shaking her head. "How did things deteriorate so quickly? Last time I spoke to Manda, he told me a lot of things had been done to try and keep Alan safe."

"Unfortunately," Kiryuu said, his voice very grave, "it seems all of our attempts to help him have been for naught. I am not sure what could have caused the mental barriers that Manda set up to fall apart. Perhaps the Technomantic weaponry which Alan carries had unforeseen side-effects, though that is just one of many possible reasons."

"You mean to say you don't know why this has happened?!" Miki exclaimed. "After all of this technology and all these years, you don't know how to stop it?!"

Kiryuu sighed. "This is not like the flu, Ms. Saegusa," he said. "Organiser G-1 is now heavily embedded into Alan's DNA. No treatment or procedure can remove it or reverse the effects. We knew this day had to come, though perhaps we did not expect it to come so soon. It may be possible to restore the psychic barriers, but that is only delaying the inevitable. The strain of the mutations will cause them to shatter once again, and Alan's mind will become forever lost to the monster that is trying to break free. The only way to subdue it is to keep him on this same blend of drugs, but I would never wish that on him. It would condemn him to a possible eternity as nothing but a vegetable, oblivious to the world around him, and certainly in no fit condition to fight anything.

"Of course, I do not intend to allow Organiser G-1 to consume him completely, for he is damned if this is allowed to happen. The moment he is taken away from the drugs, the monster will take over and the mutations will start once again. I fear it has gotten to the point where there will be no more delays. Within months, weeks, perhaps even mere days, Alan's body will be forever changed into a form that better suits the amino acid's needs. When the mutations complete, he will become a new Godzilla, an enormous danger to all of those around him, and to himself. When that happens, I fear that there will be nothing I can do to protect him. I..." He broke off for a moment, his eyes closed. "I may even be forced to kill him."

Miki just shook her head, turning away from him. She could not believe that things had become so bad that there was no going back. She did not want to believe that all hope was truly lost for Alan. As she thought this, she tried to stifle the howl of despair that was trying to fight its way out of her throat.

"If Organiser G-1 cannot be removed," Kiryuu then said, scratching his chin, "then perhaps it can be forced into compliance..."

At this, Miki looked up at Kiryuu, now looking very confused.

"I have studied the cells for many years," Kiryuu continued. "I have a theory about them. I admit that it's a long shot, but it may be better than the alternatives."

"What is it?" Miki asked. "What do you mean?"

Kiryuu apparently ignored her. He pulled a chair in the room closer to the gurney, and sat down on it. He leaned in closer to Alan's head. The mutant looked over at him, apparently aware of Kiryuu's presence, but unable to protest.

"Alan?" Kiryuu said calmly. "Did you hear what I said? Did you understand it?"

Alan only nodded slowly in reply. The anaesthetic had not been strong enough to make him completely unaware of what was happening, though it still rendered him incapable of communication beyond simple gestures. Pressing his luck, Kiryuu went on.

"I have an idea which may be of great benefit to you, so at least listen to what I have to say first. I have constructed a special cryogenic stasis chamber, designed to monitor you and open only if and when total symbiosis between Organiser G-1 and its host is achieved. The cell itself is very resilient to hibernation, but if a host is placed in suspended animation, with all other cellular activity put into a state of hibernation, then Organiser G-1 may find it harder to manipulate the host's cells. There is a chance that it will be forced to accept the host's genetic structure, and cease attempting to adapt them to its purposes, instead adapting itself. If successful, the host would retain all the benefits of having Organiser G-1, but would never again suffer through mutations or risk losing their mind to the beast.

"If you will allow me, Alan, I want you to undergo this procedure. However, I do not wish to give you false hope in the matter. Understand first that, due to the advanced state of your mutations, Organiser G-1 will take time to accept your body. There is a chance that the mutations will continue for a time, even if you will not feel them, while you sleep. I cannot make guarantees of what species you will be by the time the chamber releases you. There is even a very high chance that you will not awaken at all, and remain in stasis indefinitely. I do not wish to force you into this against your will, as it carries a great deal of risk. If it works, however, the benefits to you will be great indeed. It is your decision."

Kiryuu could see that Alan was starting to get worried. It was a very risky procedure, but it seemed to be the only one with any chance of working, however slim those chances were. Alan slowly turned his head to face Miki, who had been listening to Kiryuu's words with rapt attention. Slowly, as if it was taking every ounce of effort in his body, Alan raised his right arm, which Miki held tenderly. She looked at him lovingly, but she could see that Alan was scared. Kiryuu leaned away from Alan, continuing to look at him. He heaved a deep sigh; he could see that Alan cared for Miki dearly, and those feelings were mutual. However, he made another attempt to persuade Alan to undergo the treatment.

"_I know how much you love her, Alan,"_ he said, speaking into Alan's mind. _"I would give anything to once again be with the people that I have loved and lost over all of these years. Katsura, Maria, Will, even Gordon... However, I want you to think about this. I am sure you heard me speak of the alternatives to the treatment. Either Miki is forced to see you waste away and remain a vegetable for the rest of her life, or she is forced to watch as you lose yourself, and possibly all memory of her, as your mutations progress. Do you really wish to put her through such torture that she can never recover from?"_ He leaned in closer, speaking in a more caring tone. _"If you truly love her, Alan, you will do what is best for you both. Let her live her life and be happy, knowing that no matter what happens you will be at peace. Let her go."_

He looked over at Miki, knowing that she would have heard every word of that, due to the bond between her and members of the Godzilla bloodline. He saw that Miki was fighting back tears, yet putting on a brave face. After a moment, she nodded, which seemed to be a sign that she wanted Alan to enter cryo-stasis. At this, Alan's eyes closed tightly, and a tear rolled down his cheek. Kiryuu could see that his heart was breaking.

"It's okay, Alan," Miki said soothingly. "This may be your only chance. I have no regrets about us, or what we have been through. Now be brave, and don't throw away this chance."

Alan's hand slowly slipped away from Miki's. He lay still for a while, eyes closed tightly. The drug was clouding his senses, but Kiryuu knew that he was trying to turn things over in his mind, trying to think carefully about all that he had heard. A minute of silence followed, and for a moment Miki was afraid that the anaesthetic was wearing off. However, she saw Alan slowly turn to face Kiryuu, and give a slow nod. He was agreeing, and was ready to go.

"Thank you, Alan," Kiryuu said, nodding. He rose to his feet and looked at Miki. "Follow me," he said, before moving back out into the corridor. Miki followed him, pushing Alan's gurney.

They eventually walked into an elevator and rode it further down. Upon reaching the bottom and passing through a large door, Miki saw that they were now on the ground at the bottom of the large hangar. Quite close to the centre of the floor was a large cryogenics tube, which Kiryuu was now activating via the control console. With a hissing sound the glass lid of the chamber opened. The next few minutes were spent helping Alan to get undressed and help him get into the tube. Alan still looked nervous, but he tried to put on as brave a face as he could manage when he looked at Miki, who in turn was also trying to keep a brave face as she removed his anaesthetic mask.

"Good luck, Alan," Kiryuu said, after a moment's silence. He then pressed buttons on the control panel, and the glass top of the chamber lowered into place. As cryogenic gases slowly spewed into the chamber, Alan never took his eyes off Miki, until the last. The gases slowly took effect, and he closed his eyes as he slipped into a deep sleep. As he did so, Miki projected one last thought into his head which he heard.

"_I love you too."_

At last, it was done. The full weight of this now hit Miki, as she became painfully aware that she might never see Alan again. The grief became too much for her, and she began to weep gently. Kiryuu moved closer to her and tenderly put his arms around her to try and comfort her. His expression was resolute.

"I will have him transported to my facility in Antarctica," he said gently. "My son also sleeps there, and I am sure that he will be undisturbed until he awakens." He looked down at Miki with a warm expression. "Be strong, Ms. Saegusa. He is at peace now, no matter what happens."

After a few moments where Kiryuu allowed her to weep and get it out of her system, Miki pulled away, nodding resolutely. She knew that she had to stop acting like a scared child. It wasn't what Alan would want of her, and she knew that she had to carry on for his sake. He would not have wanted her to go through the rest of her life unhappy.

"My chauffeur will see you safely back to Salt Lake City," Kiryuu said. "You can take transport from there back to Seattle. Do not worry; Xanatos Enterprises will never trouble you again. I can promise you that."

"Thank you," Miki said gently. "You'll also want these," she added, giving him Alan's commlink and a data disk from her own commlink. "It's everything that we were able to find out about what happened in Manhattan. There's a lot that you need to know." With that, she gave a respectful bow and turned to the elevator. "I can see myself out," she said. She walked a short distance before turning back to Kiryuu, who was gazing at Alan's cryo-tube with a thoughtful expression.

"Kiryuu," she said, prompting him to turn and face her.

"Whatever happens..." she continued, pausing for a moment to gather her words. "Whatever happens from here on out, I want you to promise me that you won't give up on him. No matter what is said and done, promise me that you won't abandon him. He needs you, probably more than he'll ever admit. Promise me you won't let him talk you into deserting him."

Kiryuu gave a slight chuckle, not out of malice but out of amusement. It seemed funny to him that someone close to Alan should ask that of him. In the end, he smiled warmly and nodded.

"You have my word," he said. With that, Miki nodded, and rode the elevator back upstairs.

A moment later, Kiryuu headed up to a small office room, and spent the day examining the data that Miki had supplied. He learned of all of the terrible events that had transpired in Manhattan, of the Oxygen Destroyer, King Ghidorah's remains, and the Destroyer parasites. Many horrible things had happened in the city, and Kiryuu slowly came to realise just how close King Ghidorah had come to finding a way to resurrect himself early.

_How ironic,_ he thought. _It looks like Alan might miss the invasion of the Horrors. He has already had practice against those Destroyer creatures, which acted in a similar fashion. He has come further along in his training than I thought._

He chuckled as a plan began to form in his head. He decided there and then that he would find a way to bring down David Xanatos, and see that he finally faced justice. Of course, Xanatos also seemed to be a pawn of this 'Illuminati' that Alan had overheard; a dangerous pawn, but a pawn nonetheless. Whatever Xanatos' own intentions, the Illuminati were the ones that really warranted further investigation.

He slipped into the Matrix, gathering any information on the group that he could find on any network. Their name appeared in many places and at different times throughout history, stretching as far back as recorded history would allow, and even appearing in the highest places of power. A group this large would require him to seek out more help. A team of shadowrunners stood a much better chance of getting into places where even he could not go. He scanned the databases for any likely names, in criminal databases as well, since he felt sure this team would need a looser moral code if they were to be successful. Interestingly, some of the most promising names that appeared, such as The Hunter and Dingo, had deep connections to the strange events that had taken place in Manhattan over the last two years. He picked out other likely candidates and filed them away to be contacted at a later date.

He smiled to himself as he thought of this new challenge which had presented itself. It had been too long since he had really been able to test himself and challenge a worthy adversary. He had heard that some of Xanatos' games could stretch for years. He chuckled at this, knowing that he already had a key advantage, for he had all the time in the world.

***

Alan would not wake up from his slumber for 481 years. By the time Organiser G-1 finally accepted Alan as its host, things had changed so much that the world he knew had long ceased to be.

Many wars had ravaged the surface of the planet, including an invasion by the first wave of Horrors. Though they were eventually stopped, human arrogance became the biggest threat to the race's survival, and further war followed. Eventually the use of Technomancy and magic in general became outlawed, restricted only to the Great Dragons, and even then they were restricted to using magic to assume metahuman shapes. The Goblinisation which had fractured the human race gradually died down, and humans once again became the dominant species on the planet. Global politics, technological and military advancements, even the practices of the previously-untouchable megacorporations had changed significantly, both for better and for worse.

As time passed, man's empire expanded beyond the stars, with Earth and all of her colonies falling under the banner of the United Nations Space Command. However, on October 7th 2525, the colonisation of planets beyond our solar system brought a new, terrible threat upon the heads of the human race; the Covenant.

A collection of technologically-superior alien races, nobody on Earth learned of the Covenant's existence until they destroyed the planet colony Harvest. For reasons known only to their Prophets, the Covenant had one single goal; the utter annihilation of the human race. Thus a war began that was to last for nearly thirty years, draining the Earth's resources and pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. Though they stood united in a way that they never were before, without Technomancy the humans were technologically outclassed in every respect, and for a long time, as world after world was destroyed by the rampaging Covenant forces, all hope seemed lost. Even after some of the Sangheili contingent of the Covenant forces defected and aided the humans with their technological prowess, humanity's days had never looked darker.

Through all of this, Alan slept, undisturbed and endlessly dreaming. Finally, on November 3rd 2552, in the perpetual dawn of a Spring day in Antarctica, his cryo-tube began to open.

As Alan started to gain consciousness, the first thing that he was aware of was just how cold it was. A part of him associated it with the gases used in the tube, but a nagging feeling told him that even by those standards it was extraordinarily cold. He coughed and breathed in deeply, tasting the first breath of fresh air that he had experienced in a long time. As he opened his eyes, his vision was initially blurred, though there was also a lot of mist clinging to the area from the tube which partly accounted for that.

He sat upright, every muscle in his body seemingly groaning from the effort of trying to function again after so many centuries of non-use. As Alan's eyes refocused and became used to the gloom around him, he got a look at his body for the first time. The mutations had indeed continued while he had been asleep, for his entire body was covered in grey, pebbly scales. Noticing his hands, he saw that they were now tipped with sharp talons, as were his feet. He became dimly aware of a strange sensation around his lower back, as if it had lengthened by about three feet. It slowly occurred to him that this meant he had grown a tail as well. Though he had no mirror to see his face, it too had been changed, into a twisted mixture of human and reptile. In short, he now looked like the proverbial 'lizard-man'; the only feature of his human self which remained was his shoulder-length hair.

Though Alan was frozen in shock for a moment, he had a vague recollection of Kiryuu warning him that something like this could happen. In spite of his monstrous appearance he seemed to retain all of his mental faculties, so he could not complain at his 'grandfather' too much. The procedure had more or less worked, if not to the extent that Alan had hoped.

"Oh, Telek's gonna love this..." he suddenly heard someone say in a loud whisper. "Kiryuu's a fucking mad scientist!"

Alan coughed again, now startled that there was someone else in the room with him. Looking away from himself, he saw that he was in a cavernous warehouse, piled with crates of all sizes. A cold breeze was blowing into the building from somewhere, and in front of Alan were creatures unlike any he had ever seen. They were bipedal and were very tall; one of them stood at well over nine feet. Most of their body was covered in ornate armour of different colours, though the parts of the skin that he could see were a muddy brown colour, their necks seemingly longer than human necks. Their hands had only two fingers, yet they also had opposable thumbs, while the feet were large and with just two toes. The most startling thing about their appearance was their mouths, which seemed to be split into four mandibles, each lined with sharp teeth. They were all surveying him with wide eyes, and one of them turned to the largest being.

"Do we shoot it?" he whispered.

Alan sat still, his lips parted revealing his sharp teeth, looking at them in shock. One thought occupied his mind above all others:

_You've got to be fucking kidding..._

**THE END**

**The story continues in Halo: Infestation, by CII**


End file.
